


In the cracks of light (I dreamed of you)

by hosiecvlt



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Hosie endgame obvi, Smut, Uhm the college au we dont really need, i think, uhm future smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:14:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 30,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28603515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hosiecvlt/pseuds/hosiecvlt
Summary: “I know that you’re waiting to feel what you felt with her,” Maya says, tentatively. “You’ve tried to move on, you got on with your life an expect things to change, but they won’t, not really. If you keep looking to feel the way you did with Josie, you’ll be waiting for the rest of your life.”Hope swallows roughly before she answers, her voice barely above a whisper, “I’m with Roman now. I love him.”Maya makes a disapproving sound, “We both know it’s always going to be Josie.”OrThe college au nobody needs
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 46
Kudos: 292





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Idk what this is but its turned to over 23k words that needed to be split so here i am

Josie’s hangover is killing her. 

She had made the mistake of drinking with Lizzie last night, to celebrate them surviving the summer and making it to their second year of college. Of course, Josie had sworn that she would only take two or three shots with Lizzie, but by the time she reached her third, MG was over at their apartment and any critical thinking skills Josie had were thrown out the window. Thankfully, after a while she passed out and slept like a baby- until she woke up in the odd hour of the morning to throw up all the vodka she had drank last night. 

Needlessly to say, her headache is the worst headache she’s ever had. Not even the coffee Lizzie had handed her during her rush out the door could save Josie from the misery she’s feeling now. This is easily the worst hangover she’s had (besides that one time Josie made the mistake of drinking after her and Penelope broke up, but they don’t talk about that anymore) and the noise of people socializing in her lecture hall as they wait for their professor to arrive isn’t helping. 

At least nobody is trying to talk to her. She doesn’t think she could carry a conversation with them. She knows that she’d just snap at them and come across rude, thus scaring off any new friends for this semester. She can’t help it. Not even caffeine can boost her mood today, and it's only the first day of the semester.

Yay. This semester is off to a great start. 

Their professor walks in, and the hall immediately falls silent. He starts introducing himself and the course, to make sure that nobody’s in the wrong lecture. Normal college things before he starts to cover the material for the semester. 

Around fifteen minutes of the professor speaking has passed by when one set of the doors rattle open, making the majority of heads turn to face the interruption. 

It’s a short girl with auburn hair and blue eyes that Josie makes eye contact with as she walks up the steps, sitting into the empty seat next to Josie, dropping her duffle bag onto the floor quite rudely. Josie decides to ignore the girl’s presence, but she starts going through her bag loudly as their professor continues to talk- and with her hangover, Josie can only handle so much noise. 

“Fuck,” the girl curses quietly, and when Josie looks over at her again, Josie realizes how dirty she is. There’s dried up mud on the girl’s hands and knees, some even splattered into her shirt. If anything, she looks like the past 24 hours have been rough- worse than Josie’s. “God damn it.” 

Eventually, when the girl gives up on what Josie assumes was her laptop, she pulls out a small, old, worn out notebook and begins to erratically jot down notes into it. 

Josie feels a bit uneasy by the girl’s presence. She doesn’t know what to think of the disgusting duffel bag that’s at their feet, or the grass stains on the girl’s jeans. If anything, the girl looks like she just finished a gruesome class of P.E from high school. 

She ends up ignoring the presence of the girl, especially when she starts cursing underneath her breath again. 

“Throughout this semester, you will have five tests. Our first unit is relatively short, so I’m hoping to give you the test by the end of next week.” Their professor says. 

The entire lecture hall groans, and his expression doesn’t change. 

Nobody wants to take a test the second week of the semester. Most people are still acting like it’s summer and won’t be prepared for it in any way. 

Surprisingly, the girl next to Josie doesn’t groan or curse under her breath again. Instead, on the top of her page she just writes:  _ psych test next week. _

It’s going to be a long, long semester. 

Josie quickly learns that her Psychology lecture is her worst class of the semester. Not only is the class boring, and her professor is one of the worst lectures she’s ever had, but every morning, she’s stuck next to that girl who comes in late.

She comes to the conclusion that she’s an athlete and plays for one of their universities' many sports teams, but Josie could care less about which sport she plays. She’s just tired of the girl coming in late and her pushing her way to the empty seat next to Josie, grumbling and complaining under her breath as she sits down. 

Sometimes she catches Josie staring at her, and Josie looks back at her laptop screen, acting like she was never even looking at her, but it doesn’t fool the other girl. Josie doesn’t like being caught, but it’s what she gets for staring at her so openly. 

It takes Josie four days to figure out the girl’s name. Hope Mikaelson. Technically, Lizzie finds it out when she stalks Josie’s coworker, Maya on Instagram. 

Naturally, that Friday night, after a few hours of calmness (actually, it’s thirty minutes after Josie, Lizzie and MG smoked together in the parking lot behind their apartment complex), Lizzie decides to stalk Hope Mikaelson on the Internet. Josie and MG think it’s a bad idea, but that does little to slow Lizzie in her mission to find the girl who’s been annoying Josie every morning. 

“She’s…” Lizzie’s stuck on a picture of Hope surrounded by what Josie assumes is her family, wearing a suit. Josie tried not to drool over it. “She’s kinda hot.” Lizzie admits. 

“Right?” Josie asks, and MG pushes his way between them, suddenly finding interest in Hope. 

Lizzie scrolls some more, and finds a few pictures of Hope in her soccer uniform, surrounded by her teammates. “Damn it, she looks hot in a uniform, too. That’s not fair.” 

“Well, even though she’s hot, she comes to class late every day and it’s annoying,” Josie complains. “And then she just stares at me sometimes, or she just sits there and broods. It’s weird.” 

“I bet you stare at her, too.” MG mumbles. 

Josie pinks. She blames it on the weed. It’s not her fault that Hope draws attention to herself everyday. 

Of course she stares at Hope, but her friends don’t need to know that. 

Then, naturally, since Josie’s a bit dramatic, she spends the rest of her weekend wondering if she should follow Hope on Instagram. She ends up not going through it, since she’s 90% sure that Hope would just block her, or think Josie’s some sort of freak. (It doesn’t stop Lizzie from following her, though.)

The next Monday, after Josie decides that the circular object in Hope Mikaelson’s gym bag is a soccer ball and not a decapitated head, she’s able to focus on their lecture a little easier. 

Keywords: a little. 

For whatever reason, Josie simply can’t focus with Hope next to her. They never talk, only share a few friendly (Josie prays that they are) looks and nods of acknowledgement. Hope never speaks to her, and Josie never speaks to Hope. Of course, after Lizzie had decided to stalk the shorter girl on the internet, Josie can’t help but be a bit more awkward around her- which is nearly impossible. They hardly interact. 

There weren’t many pictures, but there was still the risk of them embarrassingly liking one of Hope’s pictures on accident- it didn’t happen, but there was a pretty close call when Josie and MG scrambled over the couch to see why Lizzie was shrieking, damn it, she looks hot in a uniform. And her complaining about how it’s not fair, Josie may have spent more time looking at that picture than she wants to admit. 

She also has this irrational fear that Hope somehow knows that Josie has taken a deep dive into Hope’s life on social media in her free time.

Which is insane. They used Lizzie’s instagram, not Josie’s. Whatever. 

The point is, Hope Mikaelson is extremely distracting- for whatever reason, but Josie can’t figure it out. There’s something about the girl that seems to continually get Josie’s attention. 

Josie doesn't mean to brag, but she’s a good student. She was an exceptional student in high school, graduating at the top of her class. Sure, the transition to college has been a bit rough, but Josie’s surviving with passing grades- good ones at that. Not great, but sufficient enough for her to keep her scholarships and enough for her to feel good about herself. 

Distractions lead to okay grades. Or bad ones, for that matter. 

So, when Josie gets her grade from the first test of the semester, her jaw practically drops. She didn’t expect her sophomore year of college to be any easier than her freshman year, but she had hoped that taking a simple elective like Intro to Psychology would be able to boost her GPA- not potentially damage it. 

A 67% stares at her, and she sighs with annoyance. 

Hope is sitting next to her, flipping through their graded test casually, and Josie watches as she places it down on the table, reaching into her back to retrieve something. 

98%. 

What. The. Fuck?

Hope comes into class at least twenty minutes late everyday, to an hour long lecture- and she gets an 98? Josie is tempted to accuse the other girl of cheating or something, but it’s feasible that Hope is a psychology major and is just naturally good at the topic. 

Either way, it makes Josie’s blood boil. She’s never seen someone appear as lazy as Hope and yet manage to get a near perfect score. Hope comes into class caked in mud (sometimes Josie’s convinced that Hope has blood dried up on her knuckles and that her knees look like they’ve been put through a wood chipper). It’s slightly terrifying. 

Not to mention the decapitated head in Hope’s duffle bag. 

Of course, the logical part of Josie knows that there’s absolutely no way Hope could walk around with a decapitated head in this day and age, but the image gets Josie through particularly boring lectures. Hope may be tiny, but Josie is convinced that Hope would kill somebody if she had to. 

Hope clears her throat, and Josie peels her eyes away from Hope’s test score, feeling embarrassed for being caught. 

“It was a hard test,” Hope comments, and it’s the first thing Josie had heard the girl say other than fuck, what the fuck, god damn it or just her grumbling incorherently. It’s a bit startling to Josie, that Hope is talking to her- and in such a soft voice. “I didn’t answer that dumb ass question about the cat.” 

“Schrödinger’s cat?” Josie questions. 

“Yeah. I mean, obviously the cat is dead, right? But then the test said it’s alive.” 

“It’s dead and alive at the same time.” Josie explains. 

“That’s impossible.” 

“Well, that’s the answer.” Josie grumbles. She doesn’t really feel like arguing with Hope over fucking Schrödinger’s cat. 

“Wasn’t he trying to prove that it’s impossible for something to be alive and dead at the same time?” Hope questions. “Some idiots who were studying Quantum physics thought that things could be in two different states at the same time, so he killed the cat to prove that this wasn’t true.” 

Josie stares at Hope. 

“What’s your major?” 

Hope hesitates to answer, “Business…” 

Josie snorts. Hope looks offended. “What’s so funny about that?” Hope demands, the edges of her test crumbling into her fists. 

“Go worry about stocks or something.” Josie replies with a roll of her eyes. 

Don’t get her wrong, Josie is sure that business is a great major and there may be some perks, but every single person that majors in business is some sort of narcissistic asshole, so Josie avoids them. (Except for MG, she loves him.)

Hope looks more offended by the second. “My minor is psychology, bitch.” 

Josie gasps. That was totally uncalled for. She wasn’t even being a bitch, was she? Hope looks deeply offended, as if Josie called her stupid. Maybe she should apologize to Hope, but the shorter girl literally just called her a bitch. 

“And the stocks are crashing right now, so yes, I am worried about them.” Hope mumbles dejectedly. “Thank god that by the time I graduate they’ll be fine again.” 

They grow quiet as the rest of the lecture hall continues to speak over the professor, many of them clearly upset about their grades. Josie crosses her arms over her chest, trying to make herself smaller, feeling guilty for her conversation with Hope. 

Eventually;

“I’m sorry I told you to go worry about stocks.” Josie mumbles. 

“What was that?” Hope asks. Josie blames it on their noisy peers. 

“I’m sorry I told you to worry about stocks.” Josie repeats. 

“Oh. Cool.” 

Josie bites her lip nervously. She was hoping for a bigger reaction from the girl. Maybe an apology since she just called Josie a bitch. “Cool.” She responds, dejectedly. 

“Cool.” Hope repeats as their professor finally gets the lecture under control. Josie swears she can see a hint of a smile on Hope’s face, the corners of her mouth threatening to turn up. 

Josie has to fight her own smile after that.

* * *

  
  


**Maya:** can u cover for me 2day?

**Josie:** When's your shift?

**Maya:** uhhhh i’m supposed to be there from 4:30 to close

**Josie:** Sure, that's fine.

**Maya:** ty. Ur a lifesaver :))

**Maya:** btw my friend reserved a few books, she'll be picking them up sometime 2day

Josie originally had plans to smoke with Lizzie and MG (what a shocker), but her need for money and feeling productive outweighs her want to be a fool for a few hours. 

Naturally, she covers for Maya, also because she knows the other person they work with occasionally won’t. 

If there’s ever one constant in Josie’s life, it’s her bad luck. Seriously. Her job at the bookstore is simple enough, she helps students buy or rent textbooks, helps them check out with their piles of school merch, so she’s happy enough with it. Josie said it was fine, because it’s Friday night and most of the students are at parties- so her shift has been relatively boring. 

Until Hope Mikaelson walks in, looking like she ran the whole way to the store. 

Fuck. 

Josie kind of forgot that Hope and Maya are friends, although she’s learned this information through many Instagram stalking sessions and from Maya talking to her. Josie has never shared the information that her and Hope have a lecture together, deciding that the information is useless when all Hope really does is brood.

Josie looks like shit (not that she cares what Hope thinks about her appearance), but Josie may have gotten frustrated with the printer a few hours ago and punched it too hard, making ink splatter all over her shirt. 

Hope runs up to the counter Josie’s at- two minutes-  _ two minutes  _ before closing. Josie should have locked the damn door, and the image of Hope banging on the doors nearly makes her laugh. 

Anyways, truth be told, Josie really doesn’t want to deal with Hope right now. 

“Hey, I...” Hope stops in her tracks when she recognizes Josie, and she looks torn between running out or dealing with her. “I, uhm, I have a textbook to pick up. It should be under my name. Where’s Maya?” 

“Maya didn’t come to work today.” Josie answers, turning to look at the pile of pre-ordered books. 

She finds the book easily enough. There’s a sticky note on the cover that reads:  _ Miracle Mikaelson _ . 

“Of course she didn’t,” Hope grumbles. “I asked her to put aside another book, but-”

“Your book isn’t here.” Josie tells Hope. 

Hope narrows her eyes, “What do you mean? Maya said she saved it.” 

“Unless your ID says Miracle Mikaelson, I can’t give you the book,” Josie answers, “I’ll get in trouble with my boss.” 

“You know my name is Hope Mikaelson.” 

(Josie doesn’t question how Hope knows this.)

“My boss is kind of an ass, sorry.” 

“Josie, I really need the book.” 

(She doesn’t question why Hope says her name as if she’s known her for years.) 

Josie has to admit, watching Hope get frustrated over a textbook is kind of humorous, but she also feels a bit bad. She’s adding a bit to Hope’s stress, but her need for a laugh outweighs her guilt.

They stare at each other, and Hope realizes that Josie isn’t going to back down. “Fucking Maya. Pain in my ass.” 

Hope pulls out her phone, starts texting aggressively. Josie takes the time to look through the shelf of reserved books again, and quickly realizes that Hope also has a pile of comic books.

Not that it’s a bad thing, or anything. Josie just didn’t think that Hope would want to spend time reading about Wonder Woman. For a split second, she thinks about introducing Hope and MG, but Josie has a feeling Hope would rather die than admit to Josie she’s a comic fan. 

Josie grabs the stack, along with the textbook Hope was so determined to get. When she returns to the counter, Hope’s on the phone with someone Josie can only assume is Maya. 

“Hope! You should have-”

“Tell Josie that you reserved that textbook for me,” Hope demands. “You can’t keep calling me miracle mikaelson.” 

Maya gasps in offense. “But you  _ are _ miracle mikaelson!” 

Hope looks at Josie, giving her some sort of apologetic look. “This is the third time she’s used miracle mikaelson for my books, I’m so sorry.” 

Josie shrugs. “It’s fine.” 

“Josie?! Is that you? You should come to the party on-” Maya shouts into the phone, making Hope pull it away from her ear. Josie can hear the tell-tale signs of the party, and the way Maya’s voice sounds slightly slurred. Hope hangs up.

Josie frowns. 

Hope gives her an apologetic look. 

Josie ends up ringing Hope and her books up quietly, glad that her shift is practically over. She hands Hope her bag, and Hope turns to leave. 

Hope gets four steps in before she turns around to face Josie, “Do you wanna go out?”

Josie’s throat immediately dries up. Is Hope seriously asking her to hang out? She must be living some sort of fever dream, because she was convinced that Hope hates her. 

Hope senses Josie’s hesitation, “All of my friends are at a party since I didn’t want to go, and… I figured your shift is over soon. You could say no.”

She has no idea what possesses her to say it, since she had sworn to herself that she wouldn’t allow for any distractions this semester, that she wouldn’t waste her time doing whatever she’s about to do with Hope. 

“Yes.”

It’s easy to say it. Almost as if Josie never had the intention of saying no. 

Josie closes up quickly after that, and makes sure the doors are locked properly. She has no idea what Hope plans on doing, or where she plans on taking her, but the idea excites her, embarrassingly so. She hasn’t hung out with anyone outside of Lizzie, MG, or co-workers since her and Penelope broke up. 

“Are you hungry?” Hope asks, standing off to the side a bit awkwardly. 

Josie’s starving. She barely remembers what she ate today. She had an apple before work. She thinks. 

“There’s this great pizza place that’s not too far off campus,” Hope goes on, “If you want.”

Josie almost drools at the idea of some pizza. “Do they have margherita pizza?” 

The question seems to excite Hope, “The best in town.” 

If anyone had told Josie she would be getting pizza with someone who’s practically a stranger at 11 at night, she would have laughed and told them she’s too sensible for that. Her parents had raised her to be smart, aware of others at all times, so Josie likes to think she has good sense. If Hope  _ really  _ turned out to be a creep, Josie spent the summer learning how to box and could totally break Hope’s nose. 

Hope asks Josie if she’s okay with walking to the restaurant, claiming it’s only a ten minute walk. Josie’s more than fine with it, and tells Hope she enjoys the weather. 

Surprisingly, the weather is actually nice. It’s not quite fall yet, so the night air is still warm with a slight breeze as they walk together. The sidewalk is narrow and cracked, pieces of cement sticking out at awkward places. 

Hope walks with her hands in her pockets, almost if she’s trying to make sure that their hands don’t brush while they walk. (It fails. Their shoulders brush, and Hope trips over the pavement.)

“My hero.” Hope says sarcastically when Josie steadies her.

Josie doesn’t like the fact that Hope’s skin is warm and inviting under her hands, so she pulls away quickly, “You should tie your shoes.” 

One would think that as an athlete, Hope’s good at tying them, but apparently the girl likes to walk around with her sneakers unlaced- which really does not help her keep a steady footing on the sidewalk. 

Once they get to the shop, Josie practically falls in love at first sight. Most places around campus just give off strange vibes, or they’re always crowded with too many people for Josie’s liking, or the food is just… bad. Not that Josie would ever leave them a bad Yelp review. 

It’s a cute little restaurant, nothing too fancy. Their sign is only half illuminated, but Josie can still read  _ Romeo’s Pizza.  _

Josie kind of loves it. (No she really does love it.) It reminds her of her hometown. 

They both get margherita slices, and Josie’s possibly a bit too excited over the idea of fresh mozzarella and spinach. (She even requests extra garlic because it’s delicious, okay?) She hasn’t had pizza in forever, or left campus since the semester started.

Hope’s not much of a talker, but Josie has already learned that about her, so she has no problems asking Hope questions about how her semester is going, despite the fact that they’re only a month in. Hope starts warming and talks a bit more. 

She tells Josie that she plays on the soccer team with Maya (Josie doesn’t admit that she already knows this information), and how she’s typically at practice every morning. No

It makes sense, in a weird way. Josie can’t imagine Hope  _ not  _ waking up at five in the morning to practice before making her way to their psychology lecture. Their conversation hits a pause when Hope grabs the bottle of hot sauce from their table and shakes it, clearly about to put it on her already perfectly normal slices of pizza. 

“Hope, no.” Josie chides, as if Hope’s a toddler. 

Hope smiles at her- the first time Josie sees her genuinely smile. “It tastes great, you should try it.” 

Josie makes a face. She strongly believes that hot sauce should never be near pizza, along with pineapples. Hope pours some hot sauce all over her pizza. Josie watches on in disappointment and mild disgust. 

“That’s disgusting.”

“You’re the one who asked for  _ extra  _ garlic.”

“That’s because garlic tastes great with mozzarella, there’s nothing hot sauce can go with. Not on  _ margherita _ pizza.” Josie defends. Hope rolls her eyes.

“You’re missing out.” 

To support her claims, Hope offers Josie her slice, “Don’t knock it until you try it.” Josie thinks about slapping the slice out of Hope’s hand, but she refrains. 

“No.”

Hope pouts, “You’re mean.” She says, but there’s no malice behind her words. In fact, she laughs a bit, as if she doesn’t even believe her own claim. 

Surprisingly, Josie enjoys her time with Hope, and she finds that she never wants it to end. After she manages to ask enough questions and talk enough to make Hope comfortable, it almost feels like they’ve known each other for years. 

It’s a weird feeling, so Josie pushes it down. 

(Josie even let Hope convince her to try the pizza with hot sauce. Josie hates it.)

“So,” Josie finds herself asking Hope one question after another, and she really hopes she doesn’t start to scare the girl off with them, “Why does Maya call you Miracle Mikaelson?” 

Hope seems embarrassed of the nickname, and even seems slightly upset that Josie has caught onto it. 

“It’s something she started way back in high school,” Hope explains with a shrug, “It’s nothing.”

Josie frowns. She was hoping for a better explanation. 

Hope sighs. “I have a habit of scoring a few minutes before the game ends, so she started calling me Miracle Mikaelson. It caught on when scouts went to my games, and now the whole team here calls me it.” 

Josie smiles. “Miracle Mikaelson has a nice ring to it.” 

“Oh, god, not you, too.”

Hope ends up asking Josie some things that she  _ knows  _ Hope only found out through Maya, and it has Josie wondering exactly how long Maya has been talking about her with Hope. After talking for a while, Josie yawns, which leads to Hope asking if she’s ready to leave. 

By the time they leave, it’s nearing midnight and the shop’s getting ready to close. They walk closer together than they did before, and Josie wishes she brought a sweatshirt. 

“I’ll walk you home?” Hope asks. She asks the question sweetly and unsurely, making Josie feel like they’re in high school. 

“Sure.” 

So, Hope walks her back, and they end up standing in the middle of the parking lot. “Hey, my complex is right across from yours.” Hope says. 

Josie thinks about inviting Hope in, but she also doesn’t want to deal with Lizzie’s prying questions, or MG’s antics. She asks for Hope’s number instead. 

Hope looks surprised, as if she didn’t just treat Josie to some good pizza and a fun night out. 

“I thought I was boring you to death,” Hope admits, “All that talk about soccer and my major.” 

Josie shrugs. “I enjoyed it, and it was definitely more fun than what I had planned.” 

Hope lets Josie put her number into her phone, and Josie texts herself so she won’t forget to save it. 

“Good night, Josie.”

“G’night, Hope.”

Josie walks into her apartment that night with a smile on her face. 

She falls asleep peacefully after she receives a text from Hope. 

**Hope:** hey I hope this isn’t weird, but I had fun tonight so thank u

**Josie:** I had fun too

**Josie:** I’ll see you in psych?

**Hope:** yeah ofc 

**Hope:** okay gn for real now

* * *

As promised, the next time Josie sees Hope, it’s in their Psychology lecture. 

There’s a few differences, though. Hope’s already seated in her normal spot when Josie arrives. On top of that, Hope doesn’t look like she spent the last two hours crawling through a mud pit.

Hope smiles a little when Josie walks in, and Josie can’t help but smile back.

“Uhm, do you like coffee?” Hope asks. 

Josie, despite the fact that she’s already had a cup, can’t help but become excited at the idea of more caffeine. Hope senses this, and slides a cup towards her. 

“Thanks.” 

“How was the rest of your weekend?” 

“Boring. Yours?” 

“Boring, unless you include Maya showing up to my apartment at four in the morning.”

The idea of a grumpy, tired Hope taking care of such a hyper, interactive Maya makes Josie giggle. Ever since she found out the two of them are friends, she wonders exactly how long it took them to start getting along, since they seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum, or if they just got along naturally. 

“Rough night?”

Hope shrugs, “Apparently she kicked ass at beer pong, so I would hate to see the other guy.” 

Josie rolls her eyes. Her and Maya spend most of their shifts sharing stories about parties they’ve been to (and realized they’ve drunkenly interacted at a few of them), or complaining about annoying professors. It’s no surprise to Josie that Maya has claimed that she won the game. 

At the same time, her and Hope get an alert on their phones. Josie’s not very tempted to look at it, but Hope looks at her phone, so Josie decides there’s no harm.

**Maya has added Josie to the group chat**

**Jed** : heyyy

**Josie** : Hi?

**Maya** : wlc to the gc josie 

**Hope has removed Josie from the group chat**

Josie stares blankly at her phone. She’s trying to not be offended at the fact that Hope removed her from the chat. 

She didn’t really expect anything else from the older girl, so she doesn’t know why it offends her. Josie already knows most of Hope’s friends, thanks to them stopping by the bookstore during Maya’s shift, and all of them seemed nice. They were nice to Josie and all of them had happily asked for her number- especially Jed when they realized they’re in the same organic chem class.

She just didn’t think Hope would so blatantly remove her from the chat when they’re  _ sitting  _ next to each other. 

“Hope.” 

“I’m doing you a favor, I promise.” Hope answers quickly. If Josie didn’t know any better, she would say Hope sounds slightly panicked at the idea of Josie being in a group chat with all of her friends. 

**Maya has added Josie to the group chat**

**Maya** : hopey wtf 

**Hope** : what 

**Maya** : y did u remove Josie 

**Hope** : bc 

**Hope** : im saving her from u freaks

**Maya** : :(((

**Maya** : she can decide if she wants 2 stay or not 

**Hope** : fine but I warned u Josie 

**Hope** : they’re crazy 

**Hope** : run

**Jed** : hey :/// not all of us are bad

**Jed** : jo how r u

**Josie** : I’m good, thank you for asking Jed. 😊 How are you?

**Jed** : good am glad to hear that 

**Jed** : did u get the grade for our chem lab???

**Josie** : No, not yet.

**Jed** : fuck

**Jed** : I turned it in like ten mins after the deadline do u think it’ll be ok?

**Josie** : I think it’ll be fine, our professor said she would be leaving our online assignments open all semester. 

**Jed** : oh thank god

**Hope** : wait u and Jed know each other???

**Josie** : Yes.

**Hope** : wtf do u know every1????

**Josie** : I know Jed, Maya, and Rafael.

**Ethan** : what about me :( I gave u my cookies that one day 

**Josie** : oh yeah

**Josie** : I know Ethan, too 

“Do you always text that badly?” Josie questions.

“Do  _ you  _ always text that perfectly?” 

Josie frowns, “Yes, there’s a lot of room for miscommunication through text, it’s just easy to type properly. In  _ correct _ sentences.” 

Hope sighs. “I don’t have time for that, less words do the trick.” 

Josie rolls her eyes. She has no idea how anyone can type like that all the time. It makes her question Hope’s sanity. 

She huffs in exasperation, because she doesn’t really have any other complaints about Hope’s texting style, other than the fact that it simply just…  _ bothers  _ her. Lizzie likes to do the same thing, and Josie always hated it. 

Their phones go off again. 

**Maya:** jo we’re going ice skating this weekend wanna come

**Josie:** it’s august?? 

**Maya:** there’s a rink on campus. Hopey can show u some tricks :D

**Josie:** I’ll think about it, thanks for the invite. 

Hope taps the table nervously. 

“You should come with us,” Hope says. “We try to go every few weeks, when none of us are busy with school and everything. It’s fun.”

“Yeah? And what tricks are you gonna show me?” 

Hope cracks a smile, “I’m keeping it a surprise.” 

Josie stares at her. She’s not sure if she trusts Maya and Hope’s friendship just yet. She’s only hung out with them separately, but her intuition has been telling her that they’re the most chaotic pair of friends, and she can only imagine the chaos that ensues when their entire group of friends get together. 

“Do you even know how to skate?” Josie questions. It’s kind of hard to imagine Hope being able to skate well, all Josie can picture is Hope being one of those people who hang onto the wall the whole time, or end up using a walker. The image in her brain is enough to make her laugh, and Hope frowns. 

“Of course I know how to skate. I taught Jed last year.” 

“I’m sure you did. I bet he learned a lot from you.” 

Hope seems to perk up at Josie’s comment, until she quickly realizes that it’s sarcasm. “Fuck off, I’m a good teacher.”

* * *

Hope is an  _ amazing  _ teacher, as it turns out. Josie ends up taking Maya’s invitation to go skating with them, and Josie had spent the first fifteen minutes being a stubborn fool, slipping and almost falling every few seconds until Hope skates up to Josie, with the biggest shit-eating grin Josie has ever seen. 

“Are you sure you don’t need help?” Hope asks. 

Josie would think Hope is genuinely asking if she weren’t smiling like that. (She ignores the fact that Hope is also skating backwards to face Josie.) 

Josie huffs. What a show off. 

“I got it.” 

“Have you ever skated before?” 

“No.” Josie admits. She vaguely remembers her and Lizzie asking their father if he could buy them a pair of skates so they could learn, but it never happened. 

“Here, watch this,” Hope suddenly turns around, standing next to Josie. It all happens so smoothly that Josie doesn’t even register what happened. Cold fingers wrap around her wrist gently, “Just push off the ice at an angle to get more friction. Trust me, it’s better than trying to keep those skates straight all the time.” 

Josie watches Hope demonstrate, and tries to copy the movement. It only results in Josie slipping, and Hope’s hand falling to her hip. 

Eventually, after a few more moments of Hope going on some tangent about the science behind ice skating, it finally clicks and Josie’s able to skate a few feet without looking like a complete dumbass. 

“Amazing, show-stopping, spectacular.” Hope says, with a dramatic round of applause. 

“Shut up.” Josie grumbles, pushing on Hope’s shoulder. She uses more force than she intended to, and poor Hope slips, pulling Josie right down with her. Their foreheads collide roughly, and Hope curses under her breath. 

“My elbow,” She complains, flopping onto her back uselessly as she holds onto her arm, “You broke it.” 

Josie pushes herself off of Hope, “I did not! You’re the one who almost concussed me!” 

“You  _ pushed  _ me! After everything I’ve taught you!” 

Josie splutters. She shouldn’t have pushed Hope that hard, but it’s what Hope deserves after being so… Annoying. “You taught me nothing! You were just being annoying.” 

Maya skates up to them, stopping suddenly enough to send flakes of ice in their direction. Hope huffs, and Josie crosses her arms. “I hate to interrupt your lovers' quarrel, but Jed wants to go get alcohol for the party, so….” 

“—Party?” Hope and Josie ask, in mirrored confusion. 

“Yeah, Alyssa Chang’s sorority is throwing a party, she invited Jed and all of us.” 

Josie thinks the name Alyssa Chang sounds familiar. She’s positive that Lizzie had stormed into their apartment one day complaining about what a bitch she is, but that was a few weeks ago. Things could have changed by then, right? 

“Maya, remember the last time all of us went to a party together?” Hope questions. “The cops showed up.”

Oh god. Josie hopes they aren’t going to kill her or something. 

“That’s because your bitch boyfriend called them,” Maya complains, “As if  _ he  _ wasn’t breaking the law, either.” 

“He was worried about Wade,” Hope grumbles underneath her breath. “Whatever. I’m not hanging out at Alyssa Chang’s place. She was my roommate freshman year, remember?” 

“She probably forgot all about it, Hopey. We’re third years now.” 

“She had sex in my bed and then got pissed at me when I told the RA about it,” Josie’s eyes widen at the information, while Hope seems to grow more annoyed. “She did it  _ several  _ times.” 

“Well, we can go to this party and you can get laid in her bed,” Maya offers as Hope shakes her head and Josie wrinkles her nose in disgust. “ _ Or  _ you could just hang out with your friends and act like she doesn’t exist.” 

“I don’t need to get laid.” 

“You kind of do, you’ve been really pissy lately.” 

“Because you’ve been bothering me.” 

Maya rolls her eyes, “Josie, do you want to come with us? Hope’s being a party pooper.” 

“I… uhm…” 

Since Josie was trying to be a responsible student this year, she was trying to limit her attendance to parties. However, the idea of not being confined to her apartment or school work for a few hours seems much more inviting. 

Besides. She’s in college. Most college students go to a party  _ at least  _ twice. 

“Can we get vodka?” 

Maya gags, “You like that shit?” 

Josie frowns, “What do you drink, then?” 

“Fireball, tequila, anything  _ but  _ vodka. That shit’s disgusting.” 

“Maya, just tell Jed to get a bottle of vodka, it’s not a big deal.” Hope grumbles as she finally manages to pull herself up, ignoring the hand Maya offers her. 

“See, I told you she’s grumpy,” Maya tells Josie when Josie accepts her help instead. “Maybe she needs a pet or something, help her get rid of all that negativity.” 

Josie laughs at the idea of Hope with a dog or a cat, and them latching themselves onto her while Hope tries to insist she doesn’t care for them. 

“Ew, no,” Hope says, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “I don’t need it to get hair all over my apartment.” 

Hours later (and approximately six shots later), Josie realizes that Lizzie and MG have ended up at the same party while Hope and Jed are standing up on the roof of an unknown sorority house. 

A crowd stands around the pool, cheering Hope and Jed on. Josie, even in her drunken state, knows better than to cheer on something so reckless, but Hope and Jed seem to be enjoying all the attention. 

Lizzie sighs. “How have you had so much to drink already?” 

“I had some with Hope.” Josie answers. 

Lizzie raises a brow. “Hope. As in Hope Mikaelson, the girl we stalked.” 

“ _ You  _ stalked her, but yeah, we’re friends now.” Josie mentions causally, and Lizzie gasps dramatically.

“You’re…  _ friends?”  _ Lizzie whispers, as if it’s the most scandalous thing. 

“I have a life outside of you and school.” 

Lizzie frowns, “But I wanna meet her, is she as much of a bitch as we thought she was?”

“If she was, I wouldn’t be friends with her…” Josie has to take a few moments, “I think.”

“You  _ think? _ ”

“Can you stop talking like that? It’s confusing me.” 

“Do it for the vine!” Maya shouts suddenly, leaving Josie and Lizzie confused as they share glances. Josie reacts late, smacking Maya’s arm. They really don’t need Hope or Jed actually jumping off the roof. 

“Vine has been dead for years…” Josie states, but Maya doesn’t seem to hear, or care for that matter. 

“Do it for the vine!” Maya repeats, more excited than before. 

“Maya, fuck you!” Hope shouts back. Josie laughs at the look of unfiltered offense on Maya’s face. 

Of course, Jed takes this moment to jump off the roof and into the pool below. Thank  _ god  _ he makes it in, because Josie really doesn’t feel like calling an ambulance while she’s drunk and having to explain whatever injuries Jed would have sustained if he missed. The crowd around the pool erupts into louder cheers, and a few more people jump in after Jed. Josie rolls her eyes. 

Hope stays on the roof, holding onto the bottle Jed had handed her seconds before his jump, holding onto it as if it’s something fine and precious- it sort of is, everyone wants to do shots now. 

“Hopey, come do shots with us!” 

“Fuck you!” Hope repeats, sounding more violent than before.

Josie giggles. 

Lizzie groans. 

“I’m too sober for this,” Lizzie complains. “Hope, get down from there and get drunk with me.”

“She’s already drunk,” Maya answers. “I'm pretty sure she is. Watch, she’s gonna stay on the roof all night and drink all of my fireball.” 

“Hope?” Josie calls out, and Hope smiles. 

“Yeah?” Hope asks, a bit goofily. Maya watches the interaction with wide eyes. In her six years of knowing Hope, she has never seen the shorter girl so happy to listen to someone. Hell, when Hope was dating Landon, she was constantly annoyed by the poor kid, but now she’s looking at Josie like Josie put the stars in the sky or some shit. 

“Get down from there, please.” Josie requests softly. 

There’s a pause while Hope seems to think through her response. She looks down at the twins and Maya, then climbs back into the house through the open window. 

Maya whistles. “She’s  _ whipped _ .” 

Josie looks at Maya, clearly confused, “For who?” 

Maya and Lizzie both groan dramatically, as if Josie has missed something blatantly obvious. Jed splashes some water at their feet for attention, “Where’s the fireball?” He shouts. 

“Hope has it,” Josie tells him. “Get out of the pool before you get a chill.” 

“You could join me,” He says with a playful wink, effectively causing Josie to pink at the implications. “It’ll be fun.”

“Fuck off, Jed,” Hope says, suddenly appearing at Josie’s shoulder. “Nobody wants to swim with you.” 

Josie pinches Hope’s arm, “Be nice.” 

Lizzie and Maya both happily take the fireball from Hope, who seems more than happy to let them take it, despite her cradling it in her arms moments ago. 

“Sorry about the party.” Hope says as the two of them watch Jed struggle to get out of the pool. “My friends don’t know when to stop.” 

Josie giggles at Hope’s apology. (She may have drank more than she originally planned.) “It’s okay,” She assures. “They’re very… entertaining. It’s better than being with MG and Lizzie all the time.” 

Hope relaxes a bit, “Okay, cool. I know they can be a bit overwhelming, especially Maya. She just likes to be like that.” 

“It’s fine, I’m sure her and Lizzie would get along well.”

As if to prove her point, Maya and Lizzie are standing off to the side, laughing at something one of them has said. 

“I should be thanking you, actually,” Josie admits, although she doesn’t really want to say much right now. She blames it on the alcohol, “Summer was really hard this year, you and your friends are making me forget about it. It’s nice.”

Hope smiles. Josie doesn’t think she’s ever seen Hope smile so much, and it's a bit unnerving, but in a good way. Seeing Hope smile at her makes Josie’s chest explode in warmth and the need to make the shorter girl smile again. 

“Well, I’m glad my friends could help, even if they’re dumbasses.” 

Josie nudges Hope with her shoulder. “You’ve been helping, too. In your weird way.” 

The confession falls heavy between the two of them, something flickering across Hope’s face before she looks at the ground. 

Fuck. Maybe Josie shouldn’t have said that. She’s always been an honest person about these type of things, but maybe it’s too soon or too much for Hope and-

“Thanks,” Hope answers eventually, voice sounding rough. “I couldn’t tell if you hate me or not, so this is good news.” She jokes. Josie smiles. 

“I don’t think I could ever hate you.” 

“Oh, really?” 

“I mean, I was super skeptical of you because I thought you decapitated someone-”

“You thought I  _ what?! _ ”

“You carried your duffle bag around all the time with your soccer ball. I’m sorry, but it totally looks like a decapitated head!  _ And  _ you look like you would kill someone if you had to!” 

“I would never kill someone, that’s awful!” Hope defends. “... maybe if I  _ had  _ to.” 

“See, I wasn’t wrong. It’s not my fault you sulk all the time, too.” 

Hope frowns, seeming genuinely offended. “I do not sulk all the time.” 

“You totally do.” Josie says with a laugh. Hope looks more offended than she did before. 

“... whatever…” she finally mumbles, only proving Josie’s point.

Jed drags them into a beer pong game, and it turns out that Hope is very good at the game- she has Jed and MG drinking most of the beer at the party, which Josie’s thankful for. Beer has always tasted disgusting to her, and she’s not sure she could handle the embarrassment of losing yet  _ another  _ game of beer pong in front of MG. 

By the time they’re going home, Josie’s cradling the bottle of fireball in her arms like it’s some sort of small, precious thing while Lizzie and Maya operate to call an Uber. 

Josie takes a swig of the alcohol, the burn long gone, and Hope looks at her with an impressed expression. 

Josie giggles. “You’re cute.” She slurs. 

She’s too drunk to notice, to actually care about it in that moment, but she swears Hope blushes and mumbles a  _ thank you  _ under her breath as she takes the drink from her. 

Lizzie and Maya are trying to make sure they have everyone, which is proving to be difficult since Ethan and Jed keep taking turns disappearing. 

“Where the  _ fuck _ is Jed? I swear, if he’s hooking up with Alyssa again, I’m gonna-”

“I’m here!” Jed shouts suddenly, the front of his shirt soaked with what Josie only hopes is beer. “Hey, Jo.”

“Hi, Jed.” 

“I’m hungry,” Ethan pipes up. “I want to go to Jay’s.” 

Suddenly, every drunk person is happily chanting  _ jay’s jay’s jay’s  _ while Lizzie and Maya look like tired, exasperated parents. 

“No, get in the fucking car and go to bed, Ethan,” Maya shoots at her brother, “I’m not taking all of you drunk idiots to Jay’s.” 

They pile into the car. MG and Ethan manage to squeeze into the back with Rafael while Hope, Jed and Maya sit in the middle- leaving Josie and Lizzie to fight over who has to sit next to the creepy driver.

It’s not much of a fight, if Josie was being honest. Hope offers to let Josie sit in her lap, and Lizzie wrinkles her nose in disgust at it and makes some sort of disgruntled noise as she gets into the passenger seat. 

Hope’s lap is comfortable. Her hand rests on Josie’s hip- almost protectively, but Josie knows it’s simply to keep her in place throughout the drive. Hope must be tired from the day’s events, her face presses against Josie’s shoulder and Josie starts to feel a little overwhelmed by the fact that a few simple touches from somebody she’s only known for a few weeks is making her feel this way. 

Different. Electric, almost. 

It must be the alcohol talking. 

They all make it back to campus in one piece (thank god) and all branch off to their own apartments for the night, except for Hope, Maya, Lizzie and Josie. Maya and Lizzie seem to have the great idea of crashing at Hope’s apartment, and some time along their walk, Hope’s hand had found its way into Josie’s. 

Hope struggles a bit with unlocking the door, dropping the keys and cursing under her breath. She seems determined to be able to unlock the door without letting go of Josie’s hand, but it’s been proven very difficult. 

“Do you need help?” Josie asks when Hope finally manages to retrieve her keys. 

“No.” 

“Hope, you’re trying to unlock the door with your car key.” Josie points out, somehow able to retain the information, despite the amount she’s drank tonight. 

“Fuck.” Hope curses, and Josie lets go of Hope’s hand (completely ignoring the way the action makes Hope seem upset) and starts to attempt to unlock the door. 

It doesn’t work. 

Lizzie and Maya watch the interactions with amused looks. 

After five minutes of Hope  _ and  _ Josie struggling to unlock the door, Maya pushes the both of them to the side, taking the keys from Josie. 

“You fucking idiots, you were using the key for Hope’s mailbox.” 

“Oh.” Hope and Josie both mutter out. 

Hope and Josie stumble into the apartment after that. Josie stops to observe the place, excited to see a new aspect of Hope. There’s barely any pictures on the walls, but when they reach the living room, Josie notices a bunch of pictures of Hope that Josie assumes is her with her family, and there’s a small box of oil paints on the floor. 

Josie gasps. 

Hope  _ paints? _

“You  _ paint? _ ”

“No,” Hope is quick to answer. “Sometimes. I used to. I’m trying to get back into it… I haven’t found a good… uhm… muse, lately.”

“I think I know what your new muse is.” Maya cuts in, waggling her eyebrows. 

Josie gasps again, “Tell me!” 

Before Maya can even speak, Hope slaps her arm hard enough to stop Maya from sharing this very important, vital information with Josie. 

Josie pouts. Hope’s cheeks turn into a shade of pink. The two of them stare at each other openly, seeming forget the rest of the world exists.

“Uhm, there’s a box of unopened toothbrushes and some clean clothes if you want to clean up,” Maya tells Josie, “Of course this is all provided by Hope, I don’t live here. Her room is down there to the right, and across is the bathroom.” 

“Right,” Hope agrees. “You can take my bed, Jo.” 

Josie (after struggling an embarrassing amount of time to brush her teeth) ends up stealing a simple tee-shirt and a pair of shorts that she’s able to pull over her sneakers, since she couldn’t get them unknotted and changes in the bathroom, not sure if Hope would want to change in the comfort of her own room. 

When she returns, Maya is in the middle of Hope’s bed while Hope stands at the end, arms crossed. 

“Maya,” Hope whines. “Get out of my bed.” 

“But I’m the guest.” Maya frowns. 

“You know I hate sharing my bed, go sleep on the floor with Lizzie.” 

“She’s on the couch.” 

“There’s room for both of you on the couch.”

Maya gasps, “And make  _ Josie  _ sleep on the floor? You’re a terrible host.” 

Josie’s just trying to remember how to untie her sneakers as she listens to this fight unfold. 

“Fuck off, Maya. Get out.”

“Fine,” Maya gives in, and Hope seems immediately relieved. “But I won’t forget this. You  _ never  _ share your bed with me, but I share mine with you.”

“That’s because you’re a bed-hog.” 

Maya flips off Hope as she leaves. “Bye Josie, enjoy the pillow of luxury that Hope’s bed is.” 

Josie holds up a sneaker triumply when she gets them off, and Hope is smiling at her in this really cute, happy way. She wonders how much Hope has had to drink, because after the ride home and her brushing her teeth and rinsing the night off, she’s starting to feel the effects of the alcohol go away. 

“I’ll sleep on the floor.” Hope offers.

(Josie’s never seen someone so excited about sleeping on the floor.)

“No, no, you can sleep in your own bed.” Josie insists, patting the empty spot next to her. 

If Josie was being honest, she  _ hates  _ sleeping alone. She’s always found it much easier when there’s someone with her, a source of warmth and stability throughout the night. So, the past few months, she’s been sleeping with a stuffed animal. Pathetic, she knows. 

“Are you-”

Josie pats the spot next to her again, almost in a threatening way, if that were possible. “You can sleep in your own bed, I won’t kick you in my sleep.” Josie promises.

A bit reclutanctly, Hope agrees and slides underneath the sheets next to Josie. Hope turns off the light, leaving the two of them alone in the dark. 

Hope keeps shifting, pulling at blankets and the bed keeps dipping in her struggle to get comfortable. Josie had planned on staying as far away from Hope as possible, but she finds herself scooting closer and tentatively slipping her arm around Hope’s waist, not wanting to scare the other girl. 

Hope stills her movements, and there’s a few, brief, tension filled moments. 

“Is this okay?” Josie whispers.

“You smell good.” Hope blurts. 

Josie giggles. “Thanks? You, too.” And she does. She smells faintly of firewood and something sweet- but Josie can’t really figure out what it is. 

One of Hope’s hands lands on the one Josie thrown over her waist and squeezes, and Josie isn’t really sure what they’re doing. They’re supposed to be sleeping, supposed to be friends, and…. she’s pretty sure friends don’t do this, but it doesn’t stop. 

Hope’s fingers are cold on top of Josie’s, so she ends up fumbling around in the dark to cover Hope’s small hand with her own, hopefully chasing away the cold. They shift some more, trying to get a sense of each other quietly, and Josie ends up with her hand under Hope’s shirt. 

She swallows roughly, her throat suddenly dry. Hope doesn’t seem to care, and Josie’s voice is barely there when she speaks again, “Good night.”

“G’night.” Hope mumbles back. 

Josie can’t help but fall asleep with a smile on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back lol. Thank u all for ur comments, they actually make my day 🥺 I’m so glad y’all liked the first chapter so much and hope this one isn’t a let down or anything. 
> 
> Also things uhm. Get a little heated at the end hence the rating on this fic so if that makes u uncomfortable or anything, just skip the last bit after Hope leaves the gym

“How was your sleepover with Josie?” Maya asks, early monday morning when they’re at practice. 

Hope practically growls, taking the opportunity to kick the bally at her feet, successfully hitting Maya right in her stomach. Maya drops to her knees dramatically, gasping and cradling herself in her arms. Hope watches, emotionlessly, and Maya flops onto the grass, clawing at it. 

So fucking dramatic. 

“Maya, get the fuck up,” Hope hisses when they start to receive concerned glances from the men’s soccer team. They sit in the bleachers watching this unfold, while the rest of Hope’s teammates look entertained. “You’re embarrassing yourself.” 

“Don’t worry,” Sasha calls out to the boys, “She’s always like this.” 

Maya continues to wither on the ground, “Hope,” she gasps out, reaching for the closest thing she can reach- which so happens to be Hope’s ankle. “You fucking bitch, that  _ hurt.” _

“Let go-”

“Help-”

Hope attempts to break free from Maya’s grip, only to stumble backwards and fall right on her ass. Maya explodes into laughter, and if she wasn’t Hope’s friend, she would already have a face full of cleats. 

“Seriously, how was it? Did you get all touchy touchy?”

“Maya,  _ no _ . We slept, like normal people.” 

“Well, what about in the morning?” 

Hope grumbles. She doesn’t really feel like telling Maya what had happened the next morning. She’s already beaten herself up enough for it all day yesterday. 

She had woken up before Josie did- who seems to snore quietly in her sleep, more like a purr of a kitten.  _ Anyways.  _ She woke up, and took a shower. She just may have forgotten one small detail during her shower- a sleeping Josie in her bed. 

Who then may or may not have seen Hope dripping wet in her towel. Which, looking back on it isn’t  _ that  _ bad. It’s not like Hope dropped her towel, or anything and gave Josie a show. It’s just that Hope wasn’t expecting Josie to be awake and look at her with wide brown eyes. 

Maya gasps, “Did you  _ flash  _ her?!” 

“What?! No! She just saw me in my towel, that's it!” 

(It may have sent the both of them into spluttering messes before Josie gathered her things and said she’ll see Hope in Psychology before Hope could really process what happened.) 

Maya laughs, as if Hope’s personal embarrassment is enjoyable. She decides that she’s never going to tell Maya about the way Josie had held her before she fell asleep, how Hope didn’t push away the taller girl. She really doesn’t need Maya laughing at her expense anymore. 

Hope yanks some grass and tosses it into Maya’s face, who then pretends to choke on it. “Jesus, Hope, are you  _ trying  _ to kill me?” 

“Maybe.” Hope mutters. 

“Mikaelson, Machado, that's enough!”

There’s enough anger in her voice that has the both of them scrambling to their feet, and Hope does her best to dust off any dirt from her shorts and straightens out her shirt. The rest of the girls snicker at their scuffle, and Hope stares at her feet. 

She really doesn’t feel like getting yelled at by Coach Wilkens right now- especially when it’s because of Maya’s dramatics. She should know by now that Maya likes to blow everything out of proportion- even in the middle of practice, with at least thirty onlookers. 

“Sorry, Coach.” Hope says, praying that she won’t have to run a few laps around the field. She really wants to get to her Psychology lecture on time, even if she only ends up sitting in awkward silence with Josie the whole time. She’s not sure if she should talk to Josie about what happened over the weekend, because it could have been worse, but Josie had booked it out of her apartment, leading Hope to believe she had done something wrong. 

“Gather together for a second, girls,” She says, ignoring Hope’s apology. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re required to show up to another event this year.” 

The team groans. The _last_ two times they had done something as a team, _off_ the field, it didn’t go well. Needless to say, they had made an embarrassment of themselves in front of many other people and potential future students. They really don’t need to go through this again. 

“No, none of that, it’ll be fun this year, I promise,” Coach Wilkens assures, sounding much more confident. “It’s just a party with the alumni students, and the president of our university. You just have to show up for a few hours and look pretty, okay?” 

Maya raises her hand. 

Coach sighs. 

“Yes?” 

“Will there be alcohol? Are we required to bring dates?  _ When  _ is this party?” 

“No, yes, and it’s on October 8th.” 

Hope raises her hand next, and her coach nods in her direction. “Do we actually have to bring a date?” 

“Yes. And no, it can’t be Maya this year.” 

More complaints from the team. It’s not like they’re in high school and asking someone to prom. Hope’s already dreading this party, really. The first year, her and Maya showed up in jeans and a tee-shirt, which only made everyone stare at them for a few hours. It’s not their fault- they didn’t realize the party is basically a bunch of rich people getting together and talking for hours.

Fuck. It’s not like Hope has a useless boyfriend she can just drag along to this type of thing. Besides- Her and Maya have made a habit of being each other’s dates to this sort of thing for the last two years. 

There’s still a bit of uncertainty from the team- despite how well they seem to work on field, most of them have their separate lives when it comes to school. Even after two years, Maya is the only friend Hope has made off the team. (Which Hope doesn’t think she counts. They were friends before they made the team, anyways.) 

They’re dismissed shortly after, and Hope has every intention of sprinting to her lecture if it means she’ll get there on time.

“Hope, stay back for a second.” 

Hope freezes, and Maya gives her an apologetic look before skipping off with the rest of the team. Great, so much for Maya. 

“Yes, coach?” 

“Try not to look too lonely at this event, okay? Maybe bring a  _ real  _ date?” 

“But Maya’s my girlfriend.” Hope blurts. (In her defense, it’s a lie that many people at their previous parties have eaten right up- especially last year when they accidentally color coordinated their outfits.) It’s a lie that comes easily enough. 

Coach Wilkens laughs. “We both know that’s not true. What happened with Landon?” 

“That ended a while ago,” Hope answers, trying her best to keep the anger that suddenly washes over her under control. She doesn’t know why everyone seems obsessed with bringing up Landon all the time. “I’ll find someone else if it really matters.” She mutters bitterly. 

If she was honest, she had forgotten that Coach Wilkens knew about Landon- even going as far as the two of them bonding whenever he showed up to Hope’s games in support. Hope never understood why Coach Wilkens was willing to talk to him so freely all the time, and she certainly has no intention of figuring it out now. 

Coach Wilkens says something else, but it doesn’t reach Hope’s ears. She’s worked for months,  _ years  _ to control her anger and channel it into something productive, or rewarding, 

It seems all of that has gone out the window when people bring up Landon these days. She knows it’s not their fault, since she still hasn’t given anyone the full story of why they broke up, but Hope was doing fine keeping it to herself- truly. 

“Hope!” 

“I’ll see you Wednesday.” Hope answers, picking up her duffle and making way to her Psychology Lecture. 

She ends up being late. The spot next to Josie is empty, as usual and Hope drops her bag with a small thud before she sits down, ignoring the way Josie’s eyes are burning into her back. 

Hope wonders if Josie’s aware that she stares so openly. 

It’s not a bad thing. Hope would usually get annoyed by someone staring at her so openly, but Josie’s watching her with soft brown eyes and when Hope sits down, Josie slides a bagel towards Hope. 

“I figured you’d be hungry after practice,” Josie explains softly. “It’s better than eating a protein bar.” 

Hope laughs a bit. Her diet is mostly protein bars and whatever food she orders for delivery, and it’s been months since she had a bagel. 

“Thank you.” Hope says, her anger dissipating at the smile she gets in return from Josie. Her conversation with coach Wilkens still lingers in the back of her head, but she’s more than willing to accept Josie as a distraction

“Maya said you like cream cheese?”

Hope nods, “The only acceptable topping for a bagel.” 

Josie seems to hum in agreement, turning her attention back to their professor. Hope starts to snack on the bagel happily, and quickly realizes that it’s a sesame seed bagel. Which also happens to be one of her favorites. 

Josie has a small smile plastered on her face when Hope looks at her again. The moment gets destroyed when Hope’s phone buzzes loudly on the desk.

**Maya:** ask her to the party 

**Hope:** what???

**Maya:** Josie 

**Maya:** ask her 

**Maya:** I know u wanna 

**Hope:** no

**Hope:** she’ll probably say no anyways 

**Maya:** ur lame

**Hope:** no I’m not

  
  


**Maya:** I’ll ask her for u if u need

**Hope:** fuck off 

**Hope:** should I really tho 

**Maya:** yes dumbass

  
  


Hope glances over at Josie briefly, who already seems bored with their lecture. Hope doesn’t blame her. She debates asking Josie, because she doesn’t really need to embarrass herself by asking Josie in the first place. There’s always the possibility of Josie saying no, or worse, Josie saying yes. 

She can already count the ways Maya and the rest of her team will embarrass her or scare Josie off. Maybe Hope should just ask Jed or something, she’s sure he wouldn’t mind being her date for a few hours. Right? She would do the same for him. 

Hope just takes another bite of her bagel as she starts taking notes. She can’t let Josie distract her, and she doesn’t need Maya to make her feel like some sort of dumbass. 

So, Hope does what she usually does: she ends up forgetting about the party. 

She goes to practice almost every morning, goes to her lectures and spends her psychology lecture stealing glances at Josie while the taller girl isn’t looking. She goes to the bookstore on nights Josie has a shift and walks her back to her apartment when her shift ends. Goes to the library and studies with Josie, or she ends up sketching the brunette when she’s too focused on her work to notice.

Hope sort of loves it. Josie laughs at her jokes, let’s Hope go on angry rants without reprimanding her like a child. Josie ends up becoming someone that doesn’t look like she’s going to run away from any of the baggage Hope carries around, or use it against her. 

It’s a relief, really. The last time she became this close to someone, it was Landon. He had the tendency to leave Hope whenever things got hard, or he’d throw her parents death into her face. 

“I’m going to kill Lizzie.” Josie grumbles as she walks into Hope’s apartment one afternoon. 

Hope looks up from her Lego set. (Yes, her lego set. Hope has this child-instinct in her that never really grew up.) She almost shoves all of the pieces off her table and into the trash can, not expecting Josie to be over so early. 

“Uhm. Why?” Hope asks. She’s seen Lizzie and Josie have a few petty arguments, but never enough to have Josie threaten her. 

“She told my dad I havea job, so of course he had to get into all of my business about it.”

Hope only becomes more confused. “Are you not allowed to have a job or something?” 

“No.”

Hope scoffs. “You’re an adult, does he expect you to never get a job?” 

“I don’t know, but it’s annoying. Do  _ your  _ parents tell you to not get a job?”

“My parents are dead,” Hope answers, toying with a few of the lego pieces. “So not really.” 

Josie stares blankly, and Hope curses. She wasn’t really planning to drop that information like that, but the fact that Josie doesn’t launch into some rant about how upsetting it must be, or how difficult it is to lose her parents at a young age, Josie takes the information without a problem. 

“Oh. Well, if you ever want to talk about them with me you can,” Josie says, and for  _ once,  _ it doesn’t sound like the person is pitying her, and Josie doesn’t become this awkward person who’s suddenly afraid to say anything else. “You should really start locking your- is that a lego?” 

“No.” Hope deadpans. 

Josie sighs. “I can see it, Hope.” 

“There's no legos, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

Josie rolls her eyes, “Whatever.” She drops her bag on the floor near the table, then starts sorting through the fridge and the pantry, clearly in search of food. Hope doesn’t have the heart to tell her that Hope is out of anything that could possibly be edible.

“Hope, when was the last time you went grocery shopping?” 

“The last time I needed food.”

Hope can’t remember the last time. She’s been doordashing meals whenever she’s gotten hungry for something other than cereal or protein bars. Josie sighs again, “I’m taking you this weekend, and you’re going to stock up.” 

“Okay, sure,” Hope quickly agrees, diving back into her lego building. “This weekend.” 

“I’m serious.”

“Okay, princess. I believe you.” 

Josie huffs in annoyance. Hope bites the inside of her cheek, not exactly sure as to why she had just called Josie princess. It’s not like it suits her, or anything, and there’s certainly not a good explanation for it. 

She really hates herself sometimes, especially with how she interacts with Josie. Sometimes it feels like she’s just watching herself be a fool, and there’s nothing she can do to prevent it. 

Josie sits down next to her, scraping the chair on the floor as she scoots closer to Hope. Hope doesn’t react. She’s seen Josie do this to Jed- get all close and touchy when she asks him for something. It’s happened several times, and Jed ends up giving Josie whatever she wants without question- it even leaves him confused for a few seconds as he processes what happens.

Hope refuses to let that be her.

Hope fails miserably. Josie puts a gentle hand on Hope’s wrist to get her attention and Hope immediately cracks. 

“I’m hungry.” Josie says. 

“I’ll order something,” Hope answers immediately. “Whatever you want.”

“Pizza from Romeo’s?” Josie asks, hopeful. 

The answer is yes. Hope ends up ordering a large margherita pizza from Romeo’s pizza without hesitation, and then she even lets Josie help her build her lego. 

“You know,” Josie says, mostly to herself. “This is a good hobby to have.” 

Hope scoffs, “Building legos?” 

“Yeah. Makes you feel productive, doesn’t it? Besides, it’s fun. I remember getting so mad that I never got legos on Christmas because my father always said they were for boys.” 

“Well, screw your dad and his gender norms, we can build as many legos as you want.” 

Josie laughs, although Hope doesn’t think it was very funny. She wasn’t  _ trying  _ to be funny either, but she feels a burst of warmth at the way Josie smiles. 

Josie’s also dangerously close. Not that it’s a  _ bad  _ thing, but Hope had quickly learned that Josie’s a bit of… an affectionate person. With almost everyone that she knows, so of course that puts Hope on the list. Hope doesn’t mind it. In the past few weeks, she’s noticed that Josie seems to be the most affectionate with her, holding Hope’s hand and hugging her in a greeting. 

It’s nice. It lets Hope know that  _ someone _ is happy to see her. 

Hope also makes the mistake of glancing up at Josie. She was aware that they’re close together, but she didn’t realize  _ how  _ close until she looked up. 

Josie’s looking at her, and brown eyes seem to be darker than usual and Hope swallows nervously. She tries her best, practically wills herself to not glance down at Josie’s lips, but they just seem so soft and inviting that she can’t help it. Her eyes flicker down briefly, and back up to Josie’s eyes. 

It’s all a bit unnerving. Josie doesn’t take her eyes off of Hope, and Hope’s trying to figure out why. Not that she minds all the staring. It’s just…  _ confusing.  _

Hope knows what she wants. She just has no idea if Josie wants the same thing. Josie raises a gentle hand, fingers toying with a few loose strands of Hope’s hair. The action has more power over Hope than she would like to admit. 

Before Hope can say anything, or  _ do  _ anything for that matter, there’s a loud, rather obnoxious knock on the door. 

“I, uhm, that’s the pizza.” Hope stutters out, and Josie’s hand falls away. Hope rushes to the door, not sure what to make of what just happened. 

She opens the door and curses. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” 

Landon blinks and offers Hope the pizza, “Delivering pizza?” He asks unsurely. “Or do you mean, like, back in town?” 

“Back in town.” 

“Oh. I felt bad for leaving, and I thought that maybe if I just took a few months to myself and gave you space, we could-”

“You’re literally at my door, Landon.” 

“Because it’s my  _ job.”  _ He stresses, although he glances away as he says it. 

Great. He’s lying about that, too. 

“Just give me the pizza.” 

“I thought we could talk-”

“No, there’s nothing to talk about, you realize that, right?” 

“Hope?” Josie asks. 

Fuck. Hope really doesn’t want Josie to step into the hallway and see her with Landon. Josie knows about him, of course she does, but that doesn’t mean Hope had ever planned on them meeting. 

“Just give it to me,” Hope hisses. “Before I beat your ass.” 

“Who is that?” Landon questions. Hope rolls her eyes. Of course, he  _ has  _ to worry about Josie now. “That’s not Maya.” 

“Bro, you’re being a little creepy,” Hope hisses at him again. “Just give me the food and go.” 

“But I-”

“Josie, don’t worry about it.” Hope shouts, praying that it won’t raise any suspicion. She debates on if she really wants to punch Landon or not, because even  _ this  _ is weird for Landon. 

He gives in, and hands it to her. Thank god. 

“Hope, I meant what I said. About talking it out.” 

Hope shrugs. “There’s nothing to really talk about, is there?” 

Landon frowns. “No, I guess not.” He murmurs, looking like a kicked puppy. Hope sighs in relief. She truly didn’t think he would eventually agree with her. He’s always been a bit of a stubborn idiot. Hope doesn’t know why she ever allowed herself to be charmed by it. 

There’s a lot of things Hope doesn’t understand about herself. 

She has to refrain from slamming the door in his face, the only reason why she doesn’t do it is because she doesn’t want to concern Josie. By the time she returns to the kitchen, Josie looks at her with a concerned glance. 

“Is everything okay?” She asks gently. 

“Yeah,” Hope lies, but Josie tilts her head a bit, and Hope swears she can feel all of her walls slip away at a simple look. “It was Landon, but he left. It’s fine.”

Josie immediately looks like she’s ready to fight someone- more particularly, Landon. “You sure? You can talk about it if you want.” 

“He was just being a jackass. Said he wanted to talk things out, normal ex things, I guess. I told him I didn’t want to, so he left.”

“Good,” Josie responds. “I’ll kick his ass if he doesn’t leave you alone.” 

Hope laughs. “Really?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?” 

“I don’t know, it’s hard to take you seriously with that baby face.” 

Josie scoffs, feigning offense, especially when Hope pinched her cheeks playfully. “You’re mean. I could totally kick ass.” 

“I’m sure you could.” 

Hope ends up skipping her last class of the day. She doesn’t tell Josie about it, mostly because she knows that Josie will drag her to class herself if she had to, but Hope would much rather spend her time with Josie. 

Besides. Hope can go to it next week. Not a big deal. 

They end up having a Star Wars marathon, thanks to Josie. Hope grew up watching the movies, and at this point, who  _ didn’t?  _ But she’s never cared for them and hasn’t watched them in years. 

Josie knows all the lines. It’s endearing to see Josie still enjoy the movie so much, despite the fact that she clearly has the whole thing memorized. 

They’re half way through the second movie while Hope’s chewing on another slice of pizza when Josie suddenly looks at Hope, “There’s a Halloween party that Lizzie wants to go to.”

“And?” Hope asks, her mouth full. She knows she shouldn’t talk with her mouth full with anyone, because it’s gross, but Josie just laughs a bit. 

“Well, I’m going with her. Apparently we need costumes, you should come with us.”

“I hate parties,” Hope says. “I only go to three parties a semester to get my friends off my ass about them. Besides, there’s no way I’m showing up to a party in a costume. Sorry.”

Josie pouts. “Fine. I was just gonna say, you could go as Han Solo.”

It may be a bit dramatic, but it feels a bit like Hope’s heart is breaking when Josie pouts- even when Hope logically knows that Josie isn’t actually upset. Or is she? Fuck. 

“If I go” Hope answers carefully. “It won’t be as Han, he’s annoying.” 

“You’re just like him,” Josie answers. “Who else would you even go as?” 

Hope pauses. She’s never watched movies… or anything, for that matter to the extent of wanting to be them, even when she was a child. She racks her head for anything, someone  _ other  _ than Han Solo, but now the image of Josie making Hope get his costume, wearing that leather vest and holding a cheaply made blaster makes Hope blank on anything else. 

She could just go as a brooding vampire or something. According to Josie, she already looks and acts like one anyways. 

“Who’s the guy with the mask?” 

“Darth Vader?” 

“Is that the one with the green dog?” 

“No, that’s the Mandalorian.” 

“Oh, well I’d go as him. Wear that helmet and sit in the corner all night, that way I don’t have to talk to anyone.” 

Josie rolls her eyes, “It wouldn’t kill you to interact with people, you know.” 

“It would,” Hope argues. “Unless it’s you.” 

Something flickers across Josie’s face at the confession, and Hope begins to wonder if she had said the wrong thing- she finds herself worrying about that more often, around Josie. 

“Come with me?” Josie practically begs. “I don’t want to go alone.”

Hope thinks about it. Any time spent with Josie is worth it. But on the downside, Hope absolutely despises Halloween parties. There’s always too many people, or too many assholes who like to take Halloween too far and play pranks at parties- Hope knows it all too well. 

“Fine.” Hope agrees. “But I’m not going as Han.” 

Josie laughs, “Sure, okay...” 

Hope grumbles. They both know Hope is going to dress up as Han if that’s what Josie wants. 

Which reminds Hope. She still hasn’t asked Josie if she would be her date to the party her team is required to attend. 

She wants to ask her. She also doesn’t. She doesn’t want Josie to end up going to some stupid party with her and have total chaos happen, like it always seems to do when her team attends events.

“Speaking of parties…” Hope starts. “My coach got the team invited to another one, and I… uhm… I thought maybe you’d want to come with me?” 

Josie seems hesitant at the idea of going to the same party as Hope’s teammates. After the stories Hope has shared about them, Hope doesn’t blame her. 

“C’mon,” Hope encourages. “I promise you it’s better than some Halloween party with a bunch of horny frat dudes.”

Josie seems to agree, but she’s still hesitant on her answer. “When is this party?”

“In two weeks…”

“And you’ve known about it for over a month?” 

“...no…” Hope answers. “Wait, how did-”

“Maya might have mentioned it.” 

“I swear to fucking god, she can’t keep her mouth shut.” 

Josie giggles at Hope’s annoyance. “I’ll go with you,” she answers, “Took you long enough to ask me.”

Hope’s breath catches in her chest. If she had  _ known  _ that Maya went behind her back and gossiped about Hope’s dilemma of needing a date, Hope would have worked up the courage to ask Josie a lot sooner. 

“Better now than never… Right?” 

Josie shifts, pushing her way into Hope’s lap. Out of instinct, Hope’s hand immediately starts to reach out for her, more than happy to accept Josie’s presence in her space. 

It’s a little annoying, how she’s only known Josie for two months and she feels this comfortable around her. Frustrating, even. Hope had never planned to meet Josie. 

Or to fall for Josie so quickly. 

Fuck. Is that what’s happening? Hope pushes the thought into the back of her mind, praying that it’ll stay lodged there. Her and Josie are just friends. It’s clear that’s all they are. 

Even when Josie nestles herself against Hope like she belongs there and that it’s the most normal thing for them. Hope doesn’t care. Just lets her arms wrap around Josie and soak in her warmth. 

She may even nod off for a few moments, and is woken awake when Josie gets up quickly.

“Shit. I have to go,” Josie exclaims, not elaborating on anything. 

Hope tries to not sound disappointed. “Oh. Okay.” 

Josie kisses Hope’s cheek in a rush, and she doesn’t seem to notice that the action has Hope frozen. “Text me more about that party, okay?”

“I- uhm, yeah. Sure. Will do.” 

Josie runs out of Hope’s apartment after that, leaving Hope to wonder what exactly just happened.

* * *

  
  


**Hope:** suit or dress

**Josie:** What?

**Hope:** for the party

  
  


**Hope:** do u want a suit or a dress

  
  


**Josie:** What are you wearing?

  
  


**Hope:** idk probably the same thing I wore last year

  
  


**Hope:** a dress

**Josie:** What do you think I should wear?

**Hope:** uhm

  
  


**Hope:** it’s up to you

**Josie:** I guess I’ll wear a suit?

**Hope:** Okay. 

  
  


**Hope:** Do u care what color?

**Josie:** No

  
  


**Josie:** Wait, you’re not buying it are you? 

  
  


**Josie:** Hope? 

**Hope:** yes…?

  
  


**Hope:** If you don’t like it I’ll just return it. 

  
  


**Josie:** Did you seriously just buy me a suit?

  
  


**Hope:** Yeah. 

  
  


**Hope:** Well, more like my uncle brought it? 

  
  


**Josie:** Hope no

**Hope:** he has a lot of suits 

  
  


**Hope:** he’s like a suit expert trust me

  
  


**Josie:** I’m giving it back after the party. 

  
  


**Hope:** he said it’s a gift, no returns

**Josie:** I hate you.

  
  


**Hope:** :) 

**Hope:** he said it’ll be there in a few days 

**Josie:** oh god why

**Josie:** thank you

* * *

  
As promised, Josie gets the suit Hope and her uncle have bought for her by Thursday. She doesn’t touch it for at least an hour, leaving it folded up in the box while she tries to distract herself from it. 

The suit looks… expensive, needless to say. Looks like Hope and Josie are going to show up to the party overdressed. 

Lizzie comes home, and quickly notices that Josie is acting suspicious when she slams her textbooks loudly on the counter. “What did you do? Did you get in trouble with dad or something?” 

“No.” 

“Why are you acting weird?” 

“No reason.”

Lizzie narrows her eyes, “Josie, I’ve known you your whole life. Is this about that weird party thing with Hope?”

“What?! No!” 

Lizzie sighs, grumbling about how she’s too busy to worry about whatever drama is going on in Josie’s life right now, and starts the trek to her room when she pauses in the living room.

“Holy shit, Hope’s your sugar daddy!” Lizzie shouts, and Josie rushes into the living room, prepared to fight with Lizzie.

“Lizzie!” Josie chides. 

“What?! She’s obviously loaded, Josie. And willing to spend it on  _ you _ .” 

Josie covers her ears, “Can you stop talking about Hope like that?” 

“Have you put this on yet?” Lizzie asks. “Does Hope know that I always tell you you’d crush it in a suit?” 

There’s no way that Josie can put this on. There’s  _ no  _ way. Josie thinks that the suit may be worth more than her rent. Josie was also told that this was a party, not… Not some grand event where Josie lives some mysterious, extravagant life for a few hours. 

Lizzie picks up the fabric, and Josie gasps. She didn’t have any intentions of touching it once she opened the box and realized how expensive it is, and now Lizzie is getting her greasy, filthy fingers all over it. 

“Put it on!” Lizzie demands, shoving it into Josie’s arms carelessly. 

“No, I’m returning it, there’s no-”

“Josie. Hope said it was a gift, now put it on before I beat your ass.” 

Josie frowns. Lizzie ushers her into her room and tells her to hurry up. 

Long story short, Josie tries on the suit. She spends an embarrassing amount of time staring at herself in the mirror, and Lizzie nearly kicks down her door. 

“Oh my god.” 

“What? Does it look bad?” 

“Hope is gonna lose her mind when she sees how hot you look,” Lizzie answers, trying to unbutton the first button Josie had done, despite Josie’s swatting hands. “Dude, stop it, I’m trying to help you.” 

“I don’t need help.” 

“I’m helping you get laid.” Lizzie mutters under her breath.

“What?!” 

“What?” Lizzie mirrors, taking a slight step backwards. 

“I don’t need to get laid.” 

“I never said that,” Lizzie defends. “I just… heavily implied that there’s a population of people who are inclined to sleep with you?” 

Josie wrinkles her face in disgust. Most times, at parties most of the people Josie talks to are just looking for a hookup, which is fine, it’s just… It’s not Josie’s thing. Besides. She highly doubts that there will be any other people who will even look at her twice. She’s just going to do Hope a favor. 

(Hope even texts her asking for pictures but Josie refuses to take any.) 

Lizzie rolls her eyes when she sees Josie ignoring Hope’s texts, mumbling something under her breath that Josie is too tired to decipher, or demand to know. 

Admittedly, the suit is nice, but Josie already knew that. She just can’t wrap her brain around the fact that Hope was willing to get her something so nice and expensive for a one time event. It’s not like Josie would ever need to wear a suit again- or at least, not any time soon. 

Once the effect wears off, Lizzie leaves Josie alone and Josie is almost sure she hears Lizzie mumble,  _ Who knew Mikaelson was loaded _ under her breath, which only results in Josie attempting to kick Lizzie as she leaves. 

She succeeds, and Lizzie practically falls to the ground. “Ow!”

“Can you stop saying loaded? It sounds weird.” 

Lizzie just grumbles some more and leaves Josie.

Josie flops onto her bed, staring at the ceiling, still trying to process it all. Hope asks her to a party, gets her a suit, and expects Josie to be fine? Josie feels a bit overwhelmed with everything, and she’s not even sure  _ why.  _

Her phone starts ringing. 

Josie answers immediately, “Hey, Hope.” 

“Hey,” Hope says, sounding a bit awkward through the phone- her voice is a little shaky and she sounds unsure of herself. “Is it okay?” 

“I can’t believe you got this for me. That your uncle did.” 

“It’s not a big deal. Uncle Elijah was just happy to know I’m not rotting away up here. He was more than happy to do it.”

“I just… uhm, I think it may be a little over the top,” Josie explains. “Or are your soccer events always this… fancy?” 

Hope laughs. “Trust me, uhm… they’re always a bit over the top. It’ll be fine. Did you try it on?” 

Josie freezes. Does she tell Hope that she’s been wearing it for almost an hour now? Does she tell Hope that she tried it on and it fit almost perfectly? Or does she lie and say it’s still in the box, waiting? 

“I had it on earlier, it fit,” Josie tells Hope, ignoring the way her voice cracks a bit. “Am I ever going to get to see what your dress looks like?” 

“It’s a surprise, you’ll find out on Friday. Did you get the pocket squares?” 

There’s a moment of silence. Josie, in fact, had no idea that the suit came with pocket squares. This so-called party is only starting to sound more and more serious by the moment, concerning Josie. Pocket squares? She thinks she might crack if Hope reveals anything else.

“Uhm…” Josie runs back out into the living room, abandoning her phone on her bed as she grabs the box she had left on the couch, ignoring the confused looks from Lizzie and Maya.

Maya…?

Josie slips a bit on her socks, stopping in her tracks. Maya’s sitting on the opposite couch, looking as if Josie has caught her doing something she shouldn’t be doing. She sits close to Lizzie, who looks a bit like a deer in the headlights. 

Maya scrambles away from Lizzie, which only makes the whole thing look more suspicious, and Josie would care, if she weren’t on a mission to find the pocket squares she had apparently received. “I- uhm…” 

“Hope got you a suit?” Maya laughs, and Josie sighs. “I didn’t believe her when she told me about it.” 

“I gotta go.” Josie answers, getting what she came for, and disappears back into her room. She may have forgotten that she left Hope on the phone as she starts sorting through the box and finds that Hope was right. Her uncle, whoever this mysterious man is, also sent her a selection of pocket squares. 

Which so happen to look just as expensive as the suit. 

“Jo?” 

Josie jumps a bit, and picks up her phone. “Hi. I found them, uhm… he sent a lot.” 

“You sound more nervous than before,” Hope observes, and Josie curses herself mentally. “You do know you don’t have to come if you don’t want to, right?” 

“I know. I mean, I want to. Lizzie always said I’d kill it in a suit, anyways.” 

Hope laughs, but it sounds almost as if she’s relieved. “I bet you would, Jo. What color is it?” 

“I thought you’ve seen it?” 

“No, my uncle was all weird and secretive about it for some reason,” Hope explains. “I need to know if it matches my dress.” 

“What color is your dress?” 

Hope hesitates. “I, uhm… I… it’s red. Maroon? Honestly, I don’t know… I think it’s more Maroon.” 

Well, if Hope is right, Josie doesn’t think they’ll have any problems with their outfits matching. The whole thing makes Josie feel like she’s back in high school, planning to go to prom with her crush. With her not telling Hope what the suit looks like, to Hope’s (somehow endearing) concern about the whole thing and if Josie actually wants to go.

Not that Josie would know. She didn’t go to her prom, and it’s not like Hope asked her out or anything. 

Josie spots a maroon flash in the pile of pocket squares, and she’s starting to think that Hope’s uncle is just pulling strings at this point. 

“I think it’ll be fine,” Josie decides on. “Tell your uncle I said thank you.” 

“Will do.” 

“Okay.” 

“Okay.” 

“I-”

“Please tell me he didn’t send you a green suit.” 

Josie frowns, feigning hurt. “So what if he did? Green’s a nice color.” 

Hope groans. “If you want to look like the grinch, yeah.” 

Josie rolls her eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

“Yeah,” Hope answers, “I’ll be in psych after practice.”

“Okay, cool.” 

“Bye.” 

“Bye.” 

Josie hangs up quickly before things inevitably get more awkward between them. She sighs, staring at her ceiling. Why is she like this?

* * *

  
  


A week before the party, Hope’s at the gym lifting weights with Maya when it happens. 

Nothing dramatic happens, it’s not like the planet stops turning or the zombie apocalypse breaks out. The only inconvenience that happens is that Hope forgets how to breath for a few good seconds and her heartbeat accelerates to an unhealthy pattern.

Hope’s in the middle of spotting Maya on her squat when she looks up and sees Josie and MG across the room, swiping their school ID’s to check in. 

Which Hope doesn’t understand. Because even from here, she can see the shine of sweat on Josie’s collarbones and her chest rising and falling in a heavy pattern. 

(Maya survives the rest of her reps, despite Hope completely forgetting that she’s supposed to be spotting her.)

“Hope, stop ogling.” Maya chides.

“I- I’m not.” Hope mutters, glancing away. She prays that Josie and MG aren’t here for long, that neither one of them will recognize her or Maya. 

They do. MG waves at Hope, and she returns it (only because he smiles so widely that it’s endearing and she doesn’t want to come across as rude), and he manages to grab Josie’s attention. 

Oh no. 

Hope really doesn’t need Josie to see her when she’s all gross and sweaty. 

Josie doesn’t seem to care. She smiles just as brightly as MG and waves. Hope waves back, and Maya beckons them over. 

Fuck. 

“Hey, I didn’t know you worked out.” Maya says as soon as Josie and MG are in earshot, and Hope rolls her eyes. Maya’s never been subtle about these kinds of things. 

Josie shrugs, “I do… sometimes.” 

Hope swallows roughly, her throat suddenly dry. Hope has never been one to… ogle, as Maya had put it, especially when someone is doing something as mundane as going to the gym, but Josie is still struggling to catch her breath a bit and Hope  _ swears  _ she’s never seen collarbones look so inciting. 

MG butts in, “I told her I’d be her workout buddy, but she apparently doesn’t like running.” 

“Who does?” Josie huffs out. 

Hope also hasn’t seen Josie in anything other than normal clothes, so to realize that Josie’s arms are actually a bit toned surprises Hope. 

Fuck, fuck. She really needs to stop staring. 

MG says something else that Hope misses, and Josie goes to pinch him, which only causes her shirt to ride up a bit and Hope catches a glimpse of a freckle above her belly button. 

Fuck. Fuck.  _ Fuck _ . 

Maya elbows Hope roughly, right in the ribs- hard enough to make Hope gasp, drawing the attention of Josie and MG back to her. Hope responds with a kick to Maya’s shin, her ribs aching. 

“Well, enjoy your workout,” Hope says awkwardly. “I have a paper due in two hours, so I gotta go.” 

It’s not a lie. Part of the reason Hope even agreed to work out with Maya so late was because she needed a distraction from her inevitable paper, which Hope now regrets. She should have been prepared for the potential run in with Josie, since she mentioned before that she works out occasionally with MG after work. 

And there’s only one gym on campus. Of the university they both attend.

She just wasn’t expecting to be so… attracted to a sweaty Josie. 

Josie giggles, “Did you forget about the psychology report?” 

“No,” Hope replies. “I just deliberately ignored it.” 

Josie rolls her eyes disapprovingly. “Do you need help?” She offers, despite the obvious disapproval of Hope’s procrastinational ways. 

“I got it, thank you, though,” Hope answers politely- as if Josie has just gotten a glimpse of the thoughts running through her mind. “Next time I might take you up on that offer.” 

Josie smiles again, as if the idea of a potential studying session actually excites her. “Okay, cool.” 

Maya clears her throat dramatically. “Alright, I’m leaving because I have an early class tomorrow, and Hope apparently has a last minute report to write, so….” 

“Right. Uhm, I’ll see you in class on Tuesday?” Josie asks.

“I’ll be there,” Hope promises. “Bye, Jo. MG.” 

She runs off after Maya before she can embarrass herself and further, and Maya teases her relentlessly on the walk back to their apartment complex. 

Hope immediately dives into working on her report, because she doesn’t need to worry about it turning into a missing assignment, and the majority of it is also written. (Thank god.) It only takes her around thirty minutes to finish it. 

She was hoping that finishing her assignment would distract her from her thoughts of Josie, but her plan fails miserably.

Hope curses under her breath. The image of Josie at the gym keeps flashing in her mind- sweaty collarbones, chest heaving. The sight of toned, tan arms and a flash of the freckle that rests above her belly button. Hope can’t stop the sudden influx of invading thoughts, like how she wants to mark the soft skin of Josie’s stomach, or how she wants to be the reason Josie’s so out of breath and panting like that. 

Fuck. 

Hope is screwed. Majorly screwed. 

She stares up at her ceiling, laying alone in the dark as she thinks about her run in with Josie and MG (mostly Josie), and it does nothing to help with the wetness building between her legs. It’s embarrassing, really. That a simple run in with the taller girl has Hope like this- useless. Thoroughly turned on, but mostly useless. And stupid. 

How old is she? Seventeen? Is she really that desperate and horny?

The answer is yes. 

Hope never really lets her mind wander, but as her eyes flutter shut, she can’t help but picture Josie allowing Hope to slip her hands underneath her shirt, feeling her soft, tight abdomen before creeping up and palming her breasts lightly. The way a gasp would fall from Josie’s lips and into her ear as she sucks on Josie’s thundering pulse point. 

Hope opens her eyes, reminding herself that she’s in her apartment, alone. That Josie isn’t there with her, pressing against her or panting in her ear. 

“Fuck.” she mumbles, turning to bury her face into her pillow, more heat pooling between her legs.

Hope knows she’s not supposed to think about Josie like this. Josie’s her friend. Her friend who Hope just so happens to think is insanely attractive. Her friend, who would probably be concerned if she knew how Hope thought about her. 

Josie, who probably thinks that their relationship is strictly platonic. 

Which it is. Platonic. That’s all it is. 

Hope ends up staring at the ceiling again, in a lame attempt for her to turn her brain off. 

Josie. 

Josie keeps creeping back into her thoughts. What it would be like to kiss Josie, to feel those soft lips smile into this kiss and soft, slender fingers gripping at her shirt. 

Hope thinks it’s extremely unfair, how all of her thoughts are circling back to Josie, to kissing her or to touch her- or even just the idea of Josie’s arm slung over her hip as she falls asleep. It’s a bit pathetic, how often these thoughts cross Hope’s mind- especially since Josie doesn’t feel the same. 

She shifts, uncomfortable. Maybe she should just go take the coldest shower of her life and just forget about the whole thing. 

(It’s a little too late for a cold shower)

Hope’s hand is already toying with the waistband of her shorts, still silently debating her next move. Contemplates if she’s actually going to do this. 

Her brain is already ahead of her, pushing past her waistband and she moans quietly at how wet she actually is- she was hoping that a few, stray thoughts wouldn’t affect her so badly. Clearly, she was wrong. 

“Shit.”

Josie’s her  _ friend.  _ This isn’t the first time that Hope has had a few wandering thoughts about her, but she’s certainly never touched herself while thinking them. It always felt like she would just be crossing the boundary she set for herself. 

Until tonight. 

Maybe it’s the stress. 

(There’s not a lot Hope is stressed about.)

Her fingers finally move from resting on her hip to her clit, and Hope thinks that her brain just enjoys betraying her, because she swears she can hear Josie gasp and moan. 

The idea is almost too much for Hope, so she slows her movements and wills herself to calm down. She slips a finger into herself, her thrusts slow as more images of Josie flash through her mind. Her thrusts only become faster and deeper, thumb circling her clit. 

It doesn’t take Hope very long to cum. She rides out her orgasm, the wetness between her legs somehow growing. Eventually, her fingers come to a rest and she’s brought back by the sounds of a text alert popping up on her phone. Great. 

She lays there, slowly pulling her hand out of her shorts as guilt begins to creep in. Hope swears that she’ll never speak of this, because she doesn’t need Josie to ever find out. 

Another text alert. Hope thinks about ignoring it, but she’ll be getting up to take a shower soon. She might as well answer it before she forgets completely. 

**Josie:** Hey, can we do a study date tomorrow?

Fuck. Hope really wasn’t expecting a text from Josie. She almost ignores it, but that would make her a terrible friend, wouldn’t it? All Josie needs is a place where she can study in peace, and Hope is more than willing to offer that. 

**Hope:** sure

**Hope:** my place or yours?

**Josie:** Yours? I don’t need Lizzie bothering me.

**Josie:** Maya also told me you’re good at chemistry.

**Hope:** ofc she did

**Hope:** is it organic chem 1?

**Josie:** yeah 

**Josie:** With Professor Vardemus

**Hope:** I can help.

**Hope:** come over at 11?

**Josie:** I’ll be there

Shit. Hope’s in so much trouble. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe hosie date next chapter?

The next morning, only thirty minutes before Josie shows up, Maya breaks into Hope’s apartment. 

Technically, she doesn’t do anything since Hope had left the door unlocked once she woke up, but that doesn’t stop her from launching a spatula at her when Maya sneaks up on her in the kitchen. 

“Fuck you!” 

“What the fuck?!” 

“You need to knock!” 

“The door was unlocked!”

“I don’t care!” 

“Ow, fuck, my nose,” Maya whines, and Hope curses some more when she realizes that she has caused Maya’s nose to bleed. She makes Maya sit on the counter while she gathers some tissues and tbe first aid kit that she keeps under the sink, even though she doesn’t think it’s meant to help with bloody noses. 

“Just get me a tampon.” Maya demands, pushing Hope’s hands away.

Hope makes a face, “I’m not giving you my tampons,” Maya huffs. “They’re expensive, okay? And Josie’s coming over soon, I don’t need you to embarrass me.” 

Maya scoffs, crossing her arms as Hope begins to wipe away any blood, “Me? Embarrassing you? That’s all you, Hopey.” 

“You’ve embarrassed me multiple times throughout our lives, I honestly don’t know why I’m still your friend.” 

“You’d be useless without me.” 

Hope sighs. They both know that it’s true, and they both know it would take multiple shots before Hope ever admits that to Maya’s face. 

“Just shut up and put this in your nose until the bleeding stops.” 

“Can I just get a tampon? They’re way more absorbent.” 

“Fine, whatever,” Hope grumbles, and Maya seems way too happy to run off to Hope’s bathroom to retrieve one. “Are you hungry?” She shouts after her when she realizes Maya has already disappeared. 

No answer. 

Hope ends up making eggs and toast, anyways. It pays off, because when Maya comes back, she drinks half of Hope’s orange juice and is piling some scrambled eggs onto a slice of toast as if she’s never eaten before. 

Hope’s used to Maya’s antics, after all these years of friendship, but Hope will never understand how Maya eats so much (and that sloppily, yet she never leaves a mess), so when Maya asks for more, Hope complies. 

She also ends up making pancakes because she finds a box of nearly expired mix in the back of her pantry, and Maya had requested something sweeter. 

There’s a knock at the door, that has Maya scrambling to answer it before Hope can flip the pancake she’s working on and answer it herself. 

Hope rushes to clean up a bit of the mess she left in her sink before Josie can reach the kitchen, but her attempts are futile, Hope realizes, because her apartment has become quite messy. She typically cleans it every week or so, but this semester has been busier than the rest. 

Josie doesn’t seem to mind, greeting Hope with a quick hug before she sits down at the table next to Maya. 

Hope doesn’t know if she trusts Maya alone with Josie yet. She knows that they work together, but that was before Hope and Josie became friends. Who knows what embarrassing childhood stories Maya has passed onto Josie?

“I- uhm, there’s pancakes,” Hope stutters, “If you want some.” 

Josie lights up at the idea of pancakes, or maybe just free food. Hope ends up putting a few on a plate for her and Josie drowns her pancakes in syrup. 

Hope makes note of it. 

Obviously, Josie has a sweet tooth. 

“What happened to you?” Josie asks Maya when Maya sits down next to her, not even batting an eye at the tampon Maya shoved up her nose. 

“Hope attacked me with her spatula.” Maya says, giving Hope a dirty look. As if she's not the one who showed up unannounced. 

“I thought you were a robber.” Hope defends. “She just walked in here, like she owned the place.”

“ _ You  _ left the door unlocked.” 

“Not for you, you came by unannounced.” 

“Oooo, so you left it unlocked for Josie.”

“Yes…” 

Josie, seemingly done with their little argument is too busy eating her pancakes to notice that Hope and Maya are watching her. 

“You should really start locking your door,” Josie comments half-heartedly. “I get worried about it.” 

“I lock it at night, I only left it unlocked because I knew you were coming over…” Hope begins to explain, but Josie and Maya share what seems to be a concerned glance. “Fine, I’ll start locking it.” Hope grumbles. 

She’s not stupid. Of course she locks her door. She decides to bury herself in work after that, still not sure how she feels about this whole Josie and Maya friendship. She can handle them separately, but together they both seem to constantly call her out for  _ something. _

Josie thanks Hope for the pancakes, even compliments them because Hope manages to keep them nice and fluffy, which, honestly, is one of the best compliments Hope can receive. 

Maya doesn’t seem to be leaving anytime soon, despite her showing up unannounced- Hope isn’t going to let it go anytime soon.

Hope and Josie spend a good hour or so going over Josie’s chemistry homework, which turns into them arguing over who is right. Hope insists that she is, since she had taken the class herself. The argument only causes Josie to roll her eyes and ask Hope why she took the class in the first place when it’s not required for her major. 

Hope blanks at that, and grumbles under her breath while Josie smiles victoriously, and starts typing up her report. Hope wonders why Josie had said she needed Hope’s help when she clearly understands the material, and Hope is about to ask when Josie speaks again. 

“Hey, did you ever turn in your report for psychology?” Josie asks, peering over her laptop. 

Hope nods dumbly. “Yeah, I turned it on.” 

Josie looks confused, and Hope quickly realizes her slip up. “In. I turned it in like twenty minutes before the deadline.”

A part of her feels like Josie somehow knows what happened last night, and the other two parts are perfectly content with acting like nothing happened, or staring at Josie’s legs in those shorts.

“Oh, okay. Good.” Josie answers, satisfied with Hope’s answer while Maya watches Hope with a careful eye. Hope debates about kicking Maya out, but she doesn’t want to cause a scene in front of Josie, and Hope has other assignments that she needs to finish- she needs to stop letting Josie and Maya distract her. 

Hope manages to get through four problems for her applied stats homework before she gives up and looks at Josie. It takes a few moments before Hope mentally curses herself and pulls her gaze away, but eventually she ends up watching Josie again. 

Hope notices a freckle on Josie’s neck. She wonders how it slipped her mind before, or how good Josie looks in yellow. Josie’s in a simple outfit, but Hope finds herself lapping it up. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Hope asks, surprised by Josie’s concern. They’re just studying, it’s not like Hope has done anything out of character other than glance at Josie more often- but at least she’s aware of it. She ignores the way her cheeks burn. 

“You keep staring at me, did I do something wrong?” Josie asks with a slight pout, and big brown eyes that plead for an answer. 

It shouldn’t be so cute. It really shouldn’t. Hope thinks that Josie could yell at her and she would still have some sort of tick that makes it adorable and make Hope want to pinch her cheeks.

Maya watches this unfold. Out of the corner of her eye, Hope can see Maya put her phone to the side as she starts watching the interaction. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Hope answers curtly, which  _ is  _ the truth. Josie hasn’t done anything, and there’s no way that Hope’s going to tell Josie why she keeps looking at her. Hope can’t help it. She’s usually calm and collected when it comes to this type of thing, but Josie always seems to make Hope feel different. 

And Josie certainly doesn’t need to know what Hope did last night. Hope would rather go die in a hole. 

Josie’s frown only deepens at Hope’s response. 

“You have something on your face,” Hope lies. Josie immediately goes to wipe her cheek, and Hope shakes her head. “Other side.” 

Josie wipes her cheek, effectively wiping away nothing. “Is it gone?”

“Yeah.” 

Maya snickers, and the two of them glance over at her. 

“I choked on my drink, sorry.” Maya lies so smoothly that Hope almost believes her. She would have if Maya actually had a drink with her, but her lie has Josie frowning even more. 

Hope doesn’t realize she’s mirroring Josie’s frown until Maya kicks her under the table. 

“I, uhm…”

“I think-”

“Okay, I have class in a little bit, so I’m gonna head out,” Maya starts, looking between the two of them carefully. Hope is pretty sure that Maya  _ doesn’t  _ have a class at this time on Monday’s, but who is she to complain about that? Now she doesn’t have to worry about Maya making an awkward situation worse.

The two of them watch Maya leave, and Hope exhales a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. 

“Uhm, sorry,” Hope says, although she’s not exactly sure what she’s apologizing for. It’s a lie. She  _ does _ , but it’s not like Josie does. Before things can get worse, Hope decides to change the topic, “So, are you ready for the party?” 

“Yeah, yeah, of course. Are you sure we won’t show up overdressed?” 

Hope shakes her head. “For whatever reason, these people take their reunion very seriously, trust me. If anything, they’ll talk to you all night about how you’re perfectly dressed.” 

“Huh,” Josie responds, clearly lost in thought. “Interesting.” 

“My coach gets us into these types of events to milk them for their money,” Hope admits. “Most of them are former athletes, so… Funding, I guess.” 

Josie smiles. “Everyone just wants to give their money to Miracle Mikaelson.” 

Hope makes a face, “Ew, no…” 

She’s certainly not going to tell Josie how many older men she’s flirted with to get them to ‘kindly’ donate in the name of sports. Especially last year. Her and Maya realized all they have to do is milk the  _ girlfriends  _ card to a few perverted men to get more than enough money. Clearly, some men have a twisted sense of priorities. 

Josie frowns. 

“Okay, they like Miracle Mikaelson…” Hope admits. “Although Miracle Mikaelson hasn’t been doing too good this season, sorry to disappoint.” 

Josie gasps, “The season already started?!” She looks so offended that Hope hasn’t told her this information sooner, that it’s enough to make Hope laugh. 

“Jo, the season started at the end of august…” 

“So, what? I’ve missed out on two months of Miracle Mikaelson?” 

“Yes, and I’m keeping it that way,” Hope insists. Knowing Josie, she would want to show up to one of Hope’s games in support. Knowing Maya, she would give Josie every detail of the rest of their season, if it meant Maya gets to see Hope embarrass herself in front of Josie some more. 

The idea of Josie cheering her on doesn’t seem  _ too  _ bad. Her parents used to watch her games whenever they could, and Landon always seemed too busy tutoring or whatever to show up to hers. 

Hope may be slightly terrified of the idea of Josie slowly becoming a bigger part of her life. She can handle them having classes together and keeping her company during her shifts, can handle them going to parties and watching movies together. For some reason, she doesn’t think she could handle Josie showing up to a game. Sure, friends do that all the time, and it shouldn’t be a big deal, but it  _ is.  _

Josie showing up at a game would only… solidify their friendship. Hope’s not too scared of that aspect either, it’s just… What if Josie decides she isn’t enough? It’s a stupid, small question that seems to fester. 

Hope knows Josie would never. It still doesn’t make it any less scary, especially after her break up with Landon. 

“You’re so mean.” Josie says dramatically. 

“Miracle Mikaelson is out of business,” Hope replies. “I haven’t been able to score a goal in the last three games.” 

Josie lights up, “That’s because you’re missing your good luck charm.”

“Good luck charm?” 

“Yeah. Me, obviously.” Josie answers, gesturing to herself dramatically. 

Hope laughs. Rolls her eyes, “Maybe you should come to my game next weekend, then. See what happens.”

“Fine,” Josie replies. “I will, and when you break your drought, you’ll be glad I came for you.” 

Hope chokes on nothing. Josie reaches out to pat her on the back, looking confused and concerned. Her hand lingers on Hope’s shoulder, running over the skin as Hope tries her best to not die. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” 

“I’m fine.” Hope wheezes. Josie rolls her eyes. 

“You’ve been acting weird all morning,” Josie says, and Hope’s mentally cursing herself for being so  _ stupid.  _ She knows that Josie’s observant and can notice the slightest change in her mood, and she hasn’t been very good at hiding her awkwardness. “Did I, like, do something wrong?”

Hope hates that’s the assumption Josie had jumped to. She really does. Josie’s far from perfect, everyone is, but Josie truly hasn’t done  _ anything  _ wrong. And this is the second time Josie’s asked Hope this. 

“Of course not,” Hope is quick to answer, ignoring the way her lungs burn and throat itches. “You didn’t do anything, I promise. Well, I mean, you decided to take organic chemistry for fun…”

The soothing hand on her shoulder shoves her suddenly, letting out an exasperated sigh. 

“I actually need it for my major, jackass.” 

“Right…”

“ _ You’re  _ the one who didn’t need it for your major, idiot.” 

Hope frowns. She’s already well aware of what she's suffered through for her major- or just suffering in general. Organic Chemistry is one of the most boring subjects in the universe, and Hope had taken it- for whatever reason. Her academic counselor had somehow convinced her to take it. 

Worse semester of her life. Whatever. 

“At least I remember how my stereoisomers work.” 

Josie rolls her eyes. “I know all I need to know about Stereochemistry, thank you very much.” 

Hope believes her. She’s sure that Josie’s doing better than an average of a 72%, anyways. It doesn’t help that Professor Vardemus is a hardass. 

“How many questions do you have left?” Hope asks, trying to catch a glimpse of Josie’s screen. 

Josie immediately slams her laptop shut, “Stop changing the subject.” 

“Fine. If you really want to come to my game you can,” Hope settles on. “You’ll be bored, though.” 

Josie rolls her eyes. “It’s just a game, Hope. You can stop acting like it’s the end of the world.” 

Oh. Right, of course. 

“It’s at 11, at the soccer field.” 

Josie smiles victoriously as she opens her laptop again. Hope grumbles. She swears she can hear Maya singing  _ whipped _ in the background.

A few short minutes later- Hope isn’t entirely sure how it started, but the both of them are on the floor as Josie reaches for Hope’s phone that has slid under the dishwasher as Hope grabs a hold of her ankle, attempting to pull Josie away. 

“Who are you talking to?” Josie demands. “Do you have a secret boyfriend?”

Hope gasps, mostly in offense. “What? No, that’s gross!” 

“Oh my god. You have a secret girlfriend!” 

“No, I don’t!” 

Josie may have seen Hope smiling at her phone, but little does she know that Hope was simply rereading some of her texts with Josie, like the idiot she is. Hope doesn’t need to die from embarrassment, so she eventually lets go of Josie’s ankle and dusts herself off.

“So what if I have a secret crush?” Hope says indignantly, “It doesn’t matter.” 

Josie frowns, “I can’t know?” 

Hope doesn’t gossip, or talk about crushes- not like this. In fact, she hates it- more so that Josie suddenly seems interested in Hope’s non-existent love life. She could always lie, come up with a few simple things on the spot about her so-called crush, but Hope would rather not. It would just make things messy and difficult- she would much rather tell the truth. 

Just… not right now. 

Not when she has no idea if Josie feels the same. 

Besides, Hope knows that it’s stupid and a little petty, since time isn’t a measurement of how well she can know somebody, but she can’t help that it would all be too soon. Between her break up with Landon, to her and Josie. Plus, Josie has mentioned her own ex a few times, and Hope doesn’t think that Josie is completely over her.

So, no, not now. Hope won’t admit… whatever the fuck she’s feeling. She doesn’t want to tell Josie that she’s never felt this way before, only for it to scare Josie off or for things to become extremely awkward between them. 

Maybe, if Hope isn’t always so unsure about herself when she’s around the taller girl, Hope wouldn’t have this dilemma. 

Josie scoots closer, hands on either side of Hope as she studies Hope’s face intently. Hope is frozen on the spot, and wants nothing more than to reach out for the warmth and solace Josie unknowingly offers. 

Eventually: 

“I don’t understand you, Hope Mikaelson.” Josie says with a huff. Hope laughs quietly, her fingers moving with an accord of their own, meeting the small sliver of exposed skin on Josie’s stomach. 

Josie’s breath hitches ever so slightly at the contact. Hope begins to believe that she simply imagined her touch affecting Josie like that, but when she works up the courage to meet Josie’s eyes, they’re darker than before. 

“I’m an open book.” Hope finally whispers back, still reveling in the feel of Josie’s soft, warm skin underneath her touch. They stay there for a while, and Hope has no idea what they’re doing. 

Finally, Josie clears her throat and moves, standing up and dusting herself off. She helps Hope up, but Hope’s still left with wondering what the hell just happened. 

Especially when they go back to doing their schoolwork as if nothing  _ did _ happen. Hope doesn’t get it. It makes her frustrated and confused, but she manages to ignore those feelings. 

Fifteen minutes later, Josie asks if there’s more pancakes. There isn’t. Hope gladly makes some- without hesitation. She’s just being a good host, okay?

Maybe Maya isn’t entirely wrong about Hope being whipped.

* * *

  
After their so called study-date, Hope has no idea how she’s survived this long in a friendship with Josie. It’s only been three months of knowing her, and yet, Hope already finds herself willing to do just about anything if it means that it makes Josie happy. Which, really doesn’t help Hope’s situation. She’s trying to  _ not  _ be so enamored by Josie. 

It also certainly doesn’t help that Josie accepted Hope’s invitation to that ridiculous party, which is suddenly only an hour away. 

Hope regrets it. All of it. She suddenly feels like she’ll throw up if she ends up going to this party with Josie. It’s definitely too late to back out now, or throw up for that matter. Hope already put makeup on for the first time in months and is sitting on her couch, in her dress waiting for Josie to show up. 

She swears. If Uncle Elijah picked out a bad suit for Josie, she’s going to fly back home and kick his ass. No hesitation.

The longer she waits for Josie to show up, the more nervous and sweaty she becomes. It’s kind of gross. She has to stop herself from wiping her sweaty palms on the fabric of her dress, and ends up wiping them on the couch. 

Thankfully, only after ten minutes or so of waiting, Hope hears Josie knock at the door and she runs, to the best of her ability, to answer. She would really hate to keep Josie waiting.

Hope never understood why movies always had someone seeing their crush at prom or homecoming caused the rest of the world to slow down, and as pathetic as it is, that exact thing happens to her as she catches sight of Josie standing in her doorway nervously, toying with one of the buttons on her suit. 

Holy shit. 

She needs to thank Uncle Elijah when she gets the chance. If he ever asks, Hope had complete faith in him. 

Okay, she was afraid that he would give Josie one of those suits that are boxy and just look weird when someone wears it, but the jacket and everything looks like it fits Josie perfectly. 

“You look great,” Hope says, which seems to kick Josie out of a stupor Hope didn’t realize she was in. “I’m glad uncle Elijah didn’t mess this up, I thought I was going to have to hide a body.” 

Josie’s eyes fly up to meet Hope’s. “Thank you. You look amazing, too.” 

Hope flushes. Feels like a high-school girl. “Are you ready?”

“I, uhm. I think.” Josie laughs nervously. “Are you?” 

Hope shrugs. “I’m ready to get this over with.” 

Josie holds out her arm. Hope accepts, linking them together. Thankfully, the event isn’t too far off campus- only a quick ten minute drive, and is in the center of town if Hope and Josie manage to escape. 

They Uber there, for whatever reason and when they step out, both of them hesitate. It seems that neither one of them truly want to go, for different reasons. Eventually, Hope holds her hand out. “Take my hand.” 

Josie doesn’t say anything. She listens, taking Hope’s outstretched hand in her own. Hope drags her into the building after that, and Josie’s mood suddenly changes. 

“Holy shit.” Josie exhales as they enter the room. Hope has to stifle a laugh at the wonderstruck look on Josie’s face. Hope knew that Josie didn’t quite believe her when she had told her these parties go over the top. 

“Yep.”

“Hope, this is like… extreme.” 

“I know,” Hope agrees. She itches to say more, to share more with Josie as Josie continues to observe the crowded room. “It actually reminds me of my parents,” Hope tells her, before she loses the courage to talk about her parents. “They used to throw these huge parties with their siblings and friends, business partners, whatever. I’d always have Maya come over to keep me company. Sometimes Landon.” 

“Landon?” 

“Yeah, we started dating my last year of high school, just before my parents died. They invited him to a few.” 

Josie swallows. “Oh.” 

Right. Hope probably shouldn’t be spending so much time talking about her ex. Especially when Hope hasn’t had a real conversation with him in nearly a year, aside from their little run in. Josie clearly didn’t like that either, despite her not talking about it.

“If it gets too much, just tell me and we can go...” Hope begins to offer, but when she turns to face Josie she realizes that the taller girl has left her side. 

Shit. 

Hope turns on her heel, ignoring the few people around her. She manages to find Josie in the crowd fast enough, already sipping on a glass of champagne with Sasha. 

Great. Just another teammate who will tell Josie all sorts of embarrassing things about Hope. They talk excitedly, almost as if… As if they’re friends. 

Oh no. Josie and Sasha  _ know  _ each other. 

“Hope, where’s Josie?” Maya appears at Hope’s shoulder, dragging Jed along behind her. The two of them lean on each other for support, giggling at something before Hope can even answer Maya. They both smell like a walking bar. 

“Are you two drunk already?” Hope demands, even though she already knows the answer. 

Jed and Maya laugh again. Hope rolls her eyes. The event started a little over an hour ago, and the two of them are acting like they’ve been drinking all night. 

Hope sighs. “Don’t let coach see you like this.” 

Maya waves off Hope’s warning, “I already talked to her for the night. I’m fine. Take a shot with us, there’s an open bar.” 

“I’d rather not,” Hope answers. “Do you know if Josie and Sasha know each other?” 

Maya takes a few moments to register Hope’s question, and she looks over to where Josie and Sasha are still interacting. Josie’s leaning in to hear whatever Sasha’s saying, and Hope certainly doesn’t miss the way her hand rests on Josie’s arm. 

“Apparently they do,” Maya shrugs, elbowing Jed. “Look at Josie.”

Jed watches the Josie and Sasha interaction. He plays with his tie nervously, then attempts to smooth out the wrinkles in his shirt. He leans down to whisper in Maya’s ear, but fails miserably as Hope can hear him clearly, “Do you think my tie is over the top?” 

Maya frowns, tugging on it. Jed chokes a bit. “Nah, it adds to your sex appeal,” Maya answers casually. “All the ladies will want you.” 

“Guys, seriously,” Hope practically whines, trying to get their attention back. She does agree- of course the tie adds to Jed’s sex appeal, but that’s not the most important thing right now. “Do you think they’re friends? What could they be talking about?” 

“Somebody’s jealous.” Maya mutters.

“Damn it, Hope, I can’t read minds,” Jed replies. “Just ask Josie if you care so much.” 

Hope thinks about it, sees the two of them laughing again and then Josie sipping on more champagne. She wants to tell Maya that she’s wrong, that she’s not jealous, but the three of them would know that’s a lie. 

“She looks jealous.” 

“It’s kinda hot on her, do you think Josie will notice?” 

“... Yes. If she stops talking to Sasha.” 

“I can fucking hear you.” Hope spits at them, causing Jed and Maya to scamper off, probably in search for more free alcohol. Great, her friends are complete morons. 

Almost like clockwork, Josie turns her attention away from Sasha and waves Hope over. Hope gladly accepts the invitation, nodding awkwardly in Sasha’s direction in acknowledgement. 

“Why didn’t you tell me Sasha’s on the team?!” Josie chides. 

“Well I- Uhm. I… I had no idea you knew each other?” Hope stutters, “I hardly talk about soccer, so it just slipped my mind, I guess…” 

“You know I grew up in Mystic Falls,” Sasha inputs, but she doesn’t sound offended. She even laughs a bit- Her and Josie seem to do that a lot around each other. “Josie and I competed against each other in high school.” 

Hope looks at both of them in confusion. 

“Miss Mystic Falls.” They answer at the same time, as if that explanation gives Hope all the information she needs. It doesn’t. 

“It’s basically a pageant,” Josie explains. “It’s a huge tradition in our town and my school hosted it one year, so…”

“You competed?” 

“Yeah, so did Sasha. And Lizzie.” 

“Both of our moms won,” Sasha says and Josie nods in agreement. “I lost the year they hosted it, but I ended up winning senior year.” 

Josie gasps, “You did? I missed it!” 

“I didn’t have anyone falling on me that time, so it was a lot easier to win.” 

Josie’s cheeks turn a bright pink. “I still feel so bad for that, I’m sorry.” 

Sasha shrugs, “It was years ago. Besides, it’s not a big deal. I think I would have lived if I didn’t win.” 

The information seems to relieve Josie, as if even after all these years, the incident still bothered her. Hope has a feeling she would have never survived Miss Mystic Falls. 

“Hey, babe, I’ve been looking for you,” A random man appears, immediately putting his arm around Sasha. “You must be Hope.” 

Hope nods, takes his outstretched hand. He must not get the memo that it’s not nice to stare, because it seems that he refuses to take his eyes off of Josie. Hope may hold onto his hand a little too tightly when she realizes. 

“That’s Josie.” Hope says when he stares at Josie for a few seconds too long, and Josie does this adorable little wave. He clears his throat, and Sasha smiles at them kindly. 

“I guess I’ll leave you two alone,” She says. “I had no idea you two were dating.” 

“Oh, no-”

“We’re not-”

“By the way, I love the color-coordinating thing you have going on.” Sasha tells them, before disappearing with her date, before Hope or Josie can explain to her that they’re not together- not like...  _ that.  _

Not that it’s a bad thing, but Hope really doubts that Josie would want people to think they’re together romantically. Friends. That’s all they are... Right?

Hope scans the crowd for any more surprises, and catches a glistening of familiar, dark, unruly curly hair. 

Fuck.

Josie sips on some more champagne, seeming a bit unnerved at Sasha thinking they’re a couple. Hope grabs two glasses and downs one of the glasses quickly, Josie watching her closely.

“Are you okay?” She asks gently.

Hope shrugs, “I’m fine. I had no idea you competed in a pageant.” 

“I didn’t,” Josie answers quickly. “I mean, I  _ did _ , but… it was more of Lizzie’s idea. I never thought I was good enough to compete in Miss Mystic Falls….”

“Why not? You’re smarter and more talented than anyone else I know, and you’re beautiful. Isn’t that what they look for?” 

“Well, yeah,” Josie sucks in a breath, “I’m so different from my mom, and back then I thought I needed to be her or something to compete… Why are you looking at me like that?” 

“I- wh- Like  _ what _ ?” Hope asks. She was simply admiring Josie’s beauty and one of her nervous ticks, which is playing with the bottom of her glass. Hope didn’t realize that she was staring so openly.

“Like…” Josie huffs, “Nothing. Are you sure you’re okay?” 

“Yeah,” Hope lies. “No. Last year, Landon made a scene and… it was embarrassing. We got into an argument and he wouldn’t let it go.” 

Josie frowns, then downs the rest of her champagne. Hope’s starting to think that Josie has a distaste for her ex, which is honestly the  _ last  _ thing Hope wants, but whenever she’s with Josie, whenever Josie makes her feel happy and light with warmth spreading through her, it makes Hope realize she never felt that with Landon- not really. 

“Well, fuck Landon, then,” Josie answers blatantly. “He clearly wasn’t good for you.” 

If Josie had said that a few months ago, Hope knows she would be coming up with some excuse to defend him, or she would be offended that someone dislikes him so openly. It was a vicious cycle she went through for months, but now she doesn’t get upset. 

She laughs. 

She laughs because Josie’s right, and it took Hope two, excruciating long years to figure it out herself. 

“Fuck Landon,” Hope agrees. If she was honest, she’s never said those words out loud before. God, was it fun. “Fuck him. He was a coward.” 

Josie makes some noise that must be agreement. Hope doesn’t want to linger on the topic of Landon, so she decides on the most pressing topic at hand: Miss Mystic Falls. 

“So, what exactly did you do for Miss Mystic Falls? Did you sabotage the competition or something?” Hope jokes. 

“Something like that.” Josie answers, deadly serious. “Lizzie was ready to go on a warpath if she didn’t win.” 

Wow. The more Hope learns about the Saltzman twins, the less she feels like she knows. Their dynamic is so vastly different than any other siblings she’s met, while at the same time, being so… sibling-like. 

Must be a twin thing. 

“Oh, my god,” Josie says suddenly, “This sounds just like the song I had to learn the dance with.” 

Hope has no idea what Josie’s talking about- she can barely hear Josie over all the noise, but Josie smiles and is clearly excited about her walk down memory lane.

“So, is this dance you learned like the rest?” Hope asks. “An excuse for the boys to feel their dates up?” 

Josie scrunches her nose in disgust, “Well, no…” Josie answers. “It’s supposed to be about the intimacy of the near touch,” She grabs onto Hope’s arm, “Come on, I’ll show you.” And drags Hope onto the dance floor. (Hope doesn’t put up much of a fight.) 

Hope tries not to laugh at the look of seriousness on Josie’s face as she says it. She can totally see Josie dressing up for the event and attending for fun, and she can see Josie competing, but it just sounds like something’s off. It must bring up some bad memories for her, so Hope makes a note to not ask so many questions- even though Hope has so many questions.  _ So  _ many.

“Just follow my lead, okay?” Josie commands. 

Hope doesn’t dance. Simply because she’s terrible at it, but she’s more than happy to do it with Josie- and hopefully, this dance won’t have Hope stepping on Josie’s toes.

Hope blames her compliance on the fact that she’s already had two glasses of champagne, but she knows better. It’s simply because of the brown-eyed girl in front of her. 

“First, we have to honor our partner.”

“What?” Hope asks dumbly, and Josie laughs. 

“Just copy me.”

Hope does, bowing slightly when Josie does. She seems satisfied, and she explains some stuff quickly after that, something about the movements and how they’ll make sense as they go along, and most of it goes in one ear and out the other as Hope realizes how close they truly are- all Hope has to do is lean up on her toes a bit to kiss Josie- if she really wanted to.

She quickly pushes the thought into the darkest depths of her mind, and finds herself mirroring Josie’s movements as they start to do the dance. 

“You can stand closer.” Josie tells Hope.

“Oh, right.” Hope takes a step closer, so there’s only a few, minuscule inches between them. She can feel the warmth of Josie radiating off of her, and she wants nothing more to simply close the gap between them. 

Josie was right. After a while, Hope gets the hang of it and doesn’t feel like a complete idiot as she goes through the movements with Josie. They don’t talk, unlike the other people dancing around them, until Josie eventually breaks the silence. 

“My mom won when she was in high school, so Lizzie and I thought we should at least try to win, too,” Josie explains when she notices Hope getting lost in thought. “Make it a stupid family tradition or something, I guess. Lizzie won.” Josie rambles on, without Hope ever voicing her questions. 

“Did you want to win?” 

Josie doesn’t answer right away, looking upset at the memory. Hope shouldn’t have asked. “I did, I think. But Lizzie deserved to win that year…” 

Hope swallows roughly, feeling like she just overstepped. “Sorry for asking.” 

Josie shrugs. “It was a big deal at the time, and Lizzie and I fought over it, but… Lizzie definitely cared about it more than I did.  _ Differently _ than I did. It’s not a big deal anymore.” 

“Oh. Right.” 

They’re close- somehow closer than before, nearly breaking the whole rule of the dance. Hope can feel the warmth of Josie’s hands radiating into her cold fingertips, can feel Josie’s breath fanning on her cheeks, and yet, they’re not touching. Josie’s eyes seem to be a different shade of brown, darker than usual as she looks down at Hope. 

Hope may have laughed at the whole  _ it's about the intimacy of the near touch  _ but now that she’s here, standing with Josie, waiting for something to happen, waiting for something to change, Hope understands. It’s all about the anticipation, too, and at this point, it may be killing Hope a little. 

She wants nothing more than to close the small space between them, but there’s a playful glint in Josie’s eyes that prevent her from doing so, gluing her to the spot. Josie is clearly enjoying this as much as Hope- possibly even more, and possibly for different reasons. 

Hope clears her throat, “So, uhm… I- umm, do you ever touch during the dance?” 

“No.” Josie answers simply, but she pushes closer, almost as if she’s testing Hope. Waiting for Hope to cave into her pull, for Hope to crash into her and stay there for years.

She’s not entirely opposed to the idea- even if it’s accidental. 

Hope’s wishes sort of come true. She’s about to voice another question when something bumps into her back forcefully enough to send her stumbling into Josie. 

She can feel the anger bubble in her chest before she can control it, despite Josie’s arms catching her and twisting around her protectively. 

“What the fuck?!” Hope demands, turning around to face the culprit, and stops in her tracks when she recognizes who it is. “ _ Landon?”  _

“ _ That’s _ Landon?” Josie asks, almost sounding disappointed- maybe it’s disgust? Both? 

Probably both. 

“I- uh… it’s…. uh….” Landon utters out, not meeting Hope’s eyes. “My brother is here, I had no idea you would be coming to this, I swear.”

“My team comes here every year,” Hope growls. “You know that, don’t lie to me.” 

“I’m not lying,” Landon insists. “Why do you always assume that I do?” 

“Because,” Hope answers, trying to sound indifferent. “You lied to me, quite a few times, remember?” 

“Hope,” Josie whispers. “I don’t think-”

“Is this your new girlfriend?” Landon asks, suddenly raising his voice as he nods in Josie’s direction. A few people have stopped to watch this unfold- clearly unsure of what to do. 

“So what if she is? It’s none of your business.” Hope answers indignantly. 

Landon huffs. “So,  _ this  _ is what you’ve been doing since we broke up? Acting like everything is fine.”

“We broke up years ago.  _ You’re  _ the one who walked out.” 

“ _ You’re  _ the one who ended it,” He spits back. “I was going to come back.” 

“Oh, really? After you tried to make my parents' deaths all about you?” Hope questions, her anger becoming this weird mixture of anger, frustration and sadness. “You didn’t even try to comfort me during the worst time of my life, and you still want to act like I’m the one wrong in all of it? Fuck you.” 

“Hope…” 

She storms off, not caring how childish it may seem to their little audience that has gathered around. As she walks away, all she can hear is her blood pounding in her ears and feeling her heart thudding heavily in her chest, hands shaking, tips of her fingers tingling.

She needs to get away. Away from Landon, away from all the noise and people. There’s too many people surrounding her, and when she takes a deep breath in hopes to calm herself down, it catches in her throat. 

Fuck. She definitely needs to get away.

Hope manages to make it outside without anyone stopping her, or Landon chasing after her like a lost puppy. She wishes she was back at campus, on the soccer field. That way, she could take her anger and whatever else she’s feeling out on the ball and run a couple of drills. 

Bile threatens to rise in her throat, chest growing tight. 

Is she really that weak? One small argument with Landon has her feeling like this? It makes Hope a little disgusted with herself. 

“Hope?” 

“I’m fine.” Hope snaps, despite the fact her hands are still shaking and her breathing is still irregular, despite her best attempts to make it even. She thinks she may even be crying- when the hell did she start crying? 

Clearly, she’s not fine. Mostly people leave her alone when she’s like this. 

Josie’s not most people.

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

When Hope doesn’t answer, Josie steps closer, wrapping her arms around Hope and placing her hands on top of Hope’s shaking ones.

“It’s okay,” Josie whispers, “I got you. Just close your eyes and count my fingers.” 

Hope listens- tries her best to, her eyes falling shut as she starts to count Josie’s fingers in her head- despite it feeling silly. 

“Out loud.” Josie says, breath tickling the shell of her ear. Josie presses closer, her front pressed into Hope’s back. When Hope doesn’t answer, Josie squeezes a bit in encouragement. 

Hope does what she’s told. She counts Josie fingers, even though they both know she has ten, and then Josie makes her count them backwards. Then again, and again.

She has no idea where the hell Josie learned it, but it must have been successful, because Josie finally lets go of Hope and takes a step back, leaving Hope feeling cold. 

“Do you feel better?” Josie asks quietly, unsurely.

“Yes.” Hope answers- and she does. 

“I think you were having a panic attack, or an anxiety attack. I’m sorry.” 

Hope frowns- she has no idea why Josie’s apologizing for something that she didn’t cause. 

“Why are you apologizing?” 

“I don’t know,” Josie shrugs, looking down. It takes her a few seconds to speak again, “Landon had no right to talk to you like that.” 

“It’s just a normal ex thing,” Hope blows it off. “That was minor, actually.” 

Josie pouts- clearly upset by Hope’s words. “It’s not a normal ex thing, Hope.” 

“You don’t argue with Penelope if you bump into her?” 

“No, not really,” Josie answers. “Sometimes, but not like that. We argue over stupid things, but that’s how it’s always been. We never argued like that, even when we were breaking up.” 

“Oh.” 

“We just… didn’t work,” Josie sighs. “I mean, we loved each other but it wasn’t enough. She wanted one thing, I wanted another and sometimes all the small things just pile on… it sucks,” She laughs, shaking her head. “Honestly, I never thought Penelope would break up with me.” 

“I’m sorry,” Hope says, because she  _ is _ . A part of her had never thought that Landon would be the one to end things between them. She had also desperately clung to the idea that maybe they’d be high school sweethearts, people who’ve known each other forever. “Clearly, she needs to get her priorities straight.” 

Josie laughs again- this time it’s real. 

“I know it’s weird, but us breaking up was a good thing. We’re still friends. Sort of. It’s nice, to have something good that doesn’t hurt anymore once it’s over, you know? But you can still appreciate it?” 

Hope nods along, despite the fact she’s wishing she knows the feeling. She’s been trying her best, drowning herself in schoolwork, going to practice, being friends with Josie. All of it- ignoring how terrible her break up with Landon truly was. She still hasn’t even told Maya the full truth. 

“Landon was an asshole,” Hope blurts suddenly, feeling like she may combust suddenly. “My parents died, and he acted like their deaths affected him more than me,” Hope kicks at the ground, hating the way tears are suddenly prickling at her eyes. “I would try to talk to him about it, or just need him to be there and he’d… he would get  _ mad  _ at  _ me _ . For not thinking about how it affected him, or… or for not telling him it would be okay, when  _ I _ was the one who needed to hear those things. It was such fucking bullshit, and when I didn’t put up with it, he decided to break up with me and fucking  _ leave _ .” 

Josie looks stunned by Hope’s sudden outburst, and Hope starts to worry that she had opened up too much, that she had let her small moment of overwhelming emotions affect her too much. She doesn’t even notice that her tears have started to fall until Josie steps closer and wipes them away gently, cupping her face in warm, soft hands. 

“It’s going to be okay,” Josie whispers, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Hope starts to argue, but Josie shushes her. “It’s going to be okay, Hope,” she repeats, voice more stern than before. “I’m here for you if you need anything. I don’t care what it is, okay?” 

“Okay.” Hope answers meekly, her tears still falling against her will. 

God, this is so embarrassing. Hope’s not even sure what she’s crying over. 

“You don’t deserve Landon, anyways,” Josie says, and Hope thinks she’s saying it simply to make her feel better, until Josie goes on, “You deserve someone who’s willing to communicate with you and understand your emotional needs.” 

Hope laughs. “My emotional needs?” 

“Yeah, everyone does,” Josie answers with a shrug, as if it’s the most simple thing in the world. “Especially you.” 

The words stay in Hope’s head, ricocheting as she soaks it in.  _ Especially you.  _ It’s as if Hope is the person Josie cares for the most, and Hope likes the way it makes her feel- even if that’s selfish of her. 

“I, uhm…” Hope stutters, looking away from Josie. She didn’t realize that Josie could watch her so intensely. “You, too.” 

Really, Hope needs to stop being so awkward around Josie.  _ You too.  _ Who the hell says that? 

“You deserve someone like that,” Hope elaborates. “Someone who’s willing to help you through change instead of acting like it’s a problem.” 

Josie giggles, and it’s music to Hope’s ears. She’s just glad that Josie enjoys how awkward Hope tends to be around her, despite how embarrassing Hope finds it. “Thank you.” 

Hope nods. “You’re welcome.”

“Should we, uhm… get back to the party?” Josie asks, her hands finally leaving Hope’s face. She immediately misses the warmth, and tries her best to swallow it down. 

Hope stops and thinks. Like, actually thinks about it. This is their perfect escape to go do whatever they want instead of listening to some old rich white man complain about his stocks, or how his wife is cheating on him. 

They could go back in and save Maya and Jed, but knowing the two of them, they’ll be able to find their way out if they really wanted to. 

“No,” Hope answers. She also doesn’t like the idea of running into Landon again, although she wouldn’t hesitate to call him out on his bullshit, and she has a feeling Josie wouldn’t hesitate, either. “Let’s go.”

Josie giggles again, “Go where?” 

Hope shrugs, feeling a bit spontaneous. “I don’t know. For a walk. Out to dinner, anywhere.” 

Josie takes a step closer, her hand resting on Hope’s arm. “Are you taking me on a...  _ date _ ?” She whispers the last part, making it seem like some sort of scandalous thing.

Hope sort of loves it. Dates  _ can  _ be a scandalous thing, if that’s what Josie wants. 

“Maybe. Are you saying yes?” 

Josie doesn’t answer right away, clearly enjoying the way Hope is looking at her, waiting for her answer. 

“Yes.” 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was planing on having their date and some other stuff in this chapter, but suddenly their date became 4K+ words so I decided to leave it at that 😌 enjoy the fluff

They end up going to the fanciest restaurant in town. They get a few odd looks from the other customers, especially when Hope’s able to get her and Josie a table without a reservation. 

Also, clearly, they’ve never seen two girls dine together at this restaurant. It’s kind of funny. 

Josie seems to be a bit in awe, and her face flushes a deep red when Hope pulls out her chair for her. She may be an idiot, but her father and uncles raised her right. 

The moment’s ruined when Hope accidentally kicks Josie underneath the table as she tries to scooch in closer- at least Hope thinks it is, until Josie leans in closer over the table, beckoning Hope forward. 

Hope obliges, almost as if she’s compelled. 

“How the hell did you get us in here without a reservation?” Josie whispers. 

“I know my ways,” Hope whispers back. “My father taught me them, they’re top secret.” 

Josie frowns playfully, “Maybe you can teach me?” 

“If you want,” Hope answers. “Do you want wine?” 

“Wine?” 

“Yeah, to go with dinner? I’ll get us a bottle.” 

“Hope, a bottle is too expensive…” Josie trails off. “This whole place is too expensive… I mean, thirty-eight dollars when we can just get one at target for fifteen?” 

“Josie. Josie, it’s one night,” Hope finds herself grabbing ahold of Josie’s hand, “It’s not like I’m going to take you here every night. We can enjoy a bottle of wine. If you want.” 

Hope doesn’t want Josie to feel like she  _ has  _ to, but her guilt and concerns seem to slip away, and she runs her thumbs over Hope’s knuckles. 

“Okay,” Josie agrees. “Just a bottle and some dinner, that’s it.” 

“Their tiramisu is really good.” 

“And maybe dessert.” Josie adds on, only causing Hope to laugh. 

“Hi, my name is Alison and I’ll be your server tonight…”

Alison freezes for a second when she looks at Hope, then glances at Josie. “I, uhm. What can I get you ladies started with?” 

“A bottle of Pinot Noir and some water, please.” Hope requests, and Josie nods along. Alison glances at Hope again awkwardly before running off. “Well, that was weird,” Hope grumbles. “Aren’t they supposed to  _ not  _ stare?”

Josie's eyes widen.

“What?” Hope demands. Was she being rude?

“I- uhm… it’s just that… you have... something on your forehead.” 

Hope stares at Josie. When could she have gotten  _ anything _ on her forehead? She swears, if she’s been out for hours and nobody told her she looks like a fool, she’s going to kill Jed and Maya. She isn’t sure how yet, but it’s their fault. (It always is.) 

She rubs her forehead a bit aggressively, willing whatever is causing people to stare to disappear. Hope really doesn’t want to spend the night with Josie like this- looking like a fool. For once, she’d like to be able to spend a few hours with Josie and  _ not  _ embarrass herself, in any way, shape, or form. Hope’s starting to think that all of her interactions with Josie are just meant to go terribly wrong. 

“I- uhm… it’s still there.” Josie whispers, almost guilty. Before Hope can grumble some more and curse out Jed and Maya, Josie’s leaning across the table and holding Hope’s face in one hand while she uses a napkin to clean off Hope’s forehead. 

Josie must be successful, because she sits back down after a few moments and smiles triumphantly. 

“What was it?” Hope questions, still slightly annoyed by the inconvenience. Josie doesn’t quite look Hope in the face as she answers. 

“My lipstick…”

When did Josie even- oh.  _ Oh.  _ When Hope was out on the sidewalk crying like a baby, and Josie kissed her forehead. Because that’s what good friends do- right? They comfort each other and kiss each other’s forehead, leaving behind lipstick and not telling the other. Hope could run in circles all day, telling herself that it’s friendly. 

Hope is suddenly a lot less upset over it, now that she’s realized Josie was the culprit. If anything- Hope’s fine with it. She would have no problem if it happened again- only with Josie, of course. 

Hope can’t help but smile- like an idiot. She smiles at Josie because it’s  _ Josie  _ and whenever Hope is around her she feels better, less angry at the world and herself. 

Josie smiles back, and Hope’s heart does that stupid thing it does- skipping a beat or two, pounding harder against her chest. Hope hates it- hates that it happens so often, but she also loves it, wants the feeling to stay as she looks at Josie. It’s the most… normal Hope’s felt in months. 

Their waitress comes back with their wine, and runs off immediately after they order. Hope frowns into her glass of wine, now not sure what to do. Josie sips her own, clearly just as lost and confused as Hope. 

Great. Their scandalous date isn’t very scandalous.

Or date-like, for that matter. Hope doesn’t know what to say. Now, that the fact she ran into Landon has sunk in completely, and she’s really trying to push it into the dark depths of her mind, but all she can hear is:  _ is that your new girlfriend?  _

Do her and Josie really seem like girlfriends? Sasha had thought the same thing. 

“I like the suit,” Hope blurts suddenly, tired of the silence between them. “You look really good in it.” 

Something crosses Josie’s features- doubt, almost. As if she doesn’t quite believe Hope. 

Fuck. Should Hope say something else? She really doesn’t know how to go about this, and it’s all her fault. She’s the one who accepted the title of this being a date, and now, she can’t get it off her mind. 

Because it’s a date. A date with Josie Saltzman, one of the smartest, kindest people Hope has ever known, and she looks beautiful, but she doesn’t believe Hope when she says it. 

“I’m serious,” Hope continues. “I’m lucky you were my date tonight.” 

Josie’s cheeks turn this adorable shade of pink, “I’m lucky you asked.” 

There’s something unspoken between them- at least, Hope thinks there is. She hasn’t thanked Josie for dealing with Landon, and she isn’t sure  _ how. _ She doesn’t want to somehow ruin the mood, or something.

Hope really doubts that Josie would let it, but still. This is Hope’s first date with someone who isn’t Landon, and she doesn’t know what to say, or do. She has questions, though. 

Is this even a  _ real _ date? Maybe Josie was just teasing and didn’t expect Hope to want to take her to the fanciest restaurant in town. Maybe it’s just a friendly date.

Friends go on dates all the time. Hope takes Maya on them whenever Maya has a particularly hard day, and Maya does the same for Hope when she thinks Hope spends too much time locked up in her room. 

Maybe that’s what this is- the event was a total bust, so now Hope’s taking Josie on a friendly date to make up for it- with a bottle of wine. Totally friendly. 

Hope’s just about to speak again when she notices two familiar faces walk in. She sinks into her seat suddenly, causing Josie to give her a concerned look. 

“Get down.” Hope whispers. Of course, it would be easier if they had menus to hide behind, but timing seems to like working against them- especially in the last few hours. 

“Hope, wha-”

“Just don’t turn around, they’ll notice and want to sit with us,” Hope tells Josie, watching as a clearly drunk Jed and Maya try to sneak their way into the restaurant- they’re clearly failing. “I swear…”

Of course, Josie turns around. When she recognizes Jed and Maya, she laughs a bit, “Should we let them sit with us..?”

“No,” Hope answers quickly, “They’re already drunk out of their minds, what they need is an Uber ride home.”

Josie seems to agree, but that doesn’t stop her from looking a bit guilty, as if she’s under some sort of obligation to help them. 

Hope almost caves. 

She  _ almost _ caves. If Josie was okay with it, Hope would have invited Jed and Maya to sit with them, no matter how drunk they are, but Hope really doesn’t want Josie to feel like she has to take care of Hope’s friends simply because Hope knows them. 

Luckily, Jed and Maya are kicked out before Hope can speak up and say that they’re with her and Josie. 

Josie giggles, and Hope laughs. 

“That was…” 

“Normal for Jed and Maya, unfortunately.” 

Hope thinks she’s free, that she’s survived without a catastrophe created by Jed and Maya, however, she gets proven wrong quickly. Josie starts to speak again, but the words get jumbled in Hope’s brain as she looks out the window. 

Where Jed and Maya are standing, faces pressed to the glass. There’s a family dining at the table near the window her friends are standing in, and the parents look extremely concerned for their kids. 

What the  _ fuck?  _

One, them pressing their faces against the glass is highly unsanitary, and two, why do they always have the need to embarrass Hope?

“Hope, what are you looking… oh my god.” 

“Ignore them,” Hope mutters, playing with the tablecloth. “Just… they’re being idiots.” 

“They’re scaring those poor kids,” Josie says with a pout. “They’ll be scarred with the memory of Jed doing… that.” 

“I swear, they normally aren’t like this, they’re just…” 

“Protective of you? I get it,” Josie says with a shrug, “MG and Lizzie are the same way, if they knew where I was right now, I’m sure they’d have some elaborate plan to crash.” 

It makes Hope feel a little better- but it doesn’t help that her best friends are creeps- why can’t they be more like Rafael? Worry about her in a way that’s  _ normal?  _

One of the waiters goes outside and starts yelling at Jed and Maya, which only causes the two of them to run off. Hope and Josie look at each other with wide eyes after this unfolds, then erupt in laughter. 

As it turns out, Jed and Maya nearly crashing their friendly date is exactly the type of ice-breaker they needed. Or, more like a reminder that Hope and Josie are already friends and know each other, so there’s no good reason for them to be so awkward around each other. 

At one point, while they’re talking, Josie offhandedly mentions that the restaurant has gotten hotter in the short time they’ve been there. Hope can’t tell the difference, but Josie ends up taking off her suit jacket- she even undos the very top button on her shirt, exposing her collarbones.

The collarbones that Hope gets so easily distracted by, and this time isn’t any different. She watches Josie’s movements, watches as her collarbones become more revealed than before. 

Hope then proceeds to choke on some wine, and Josie’s reaching out to make sure Hope doesn’t die on it like a fucking idiot. 

Hope doesn’t mean to brag, but the date goes by exceptionally well. (After Hope makes the mistake of choking on her wine, of course.) They talk about how shitty their psychology professor is, to Josie talking passionately about her major. Surprisingly, it’s the first time Hope had heard her talk about it. (She's also convinced that Josie’s one of those few people who truly loves everything about her major, too.) Hope thinks she could listen to Josie talk about Zoology for hours. Josie just looks so cute when she does. 

Maybe it’s just the wine talking, because Hope drinks quite a bit of it, but Josie doesn’t seem to mind, especially since she has some of her own. 

By the time they decide they’re done, Hope buys another bottle of wine from the restaurant before they leave, and she holds her arm out for Josie to hold onto. 

Josie happily accepts, linking their arms together, “Where are we going now?” 

“Uhhh…” Hope stalls. Despite it getting dark, it’s beautiful outside. A slight breeze, and it’s not too hot or cold. “For a walk. We’re going for a walk,” She decides on, “Unless you want to go somewhere else?”

“No, I just wanna be with you.” Josie answers, honestly.

Sometimes Josie’s tendency to be so candid about nearly everything scares Hope, but now is one of those moments that just makes Hope smile and want to adore Josie even more. 

So, off for a walk they go. They sip on the bottle of wine Hope had gotten, and they get a few looks from people they pass, who just look confused about their outfits. 

“I’ve been here for two years and I still barely know the town,” Josie confesses, causing Hope to gasp dramatically. Yes, the wine is getting to her head. Don’t ask. “I only come here for groceries.” 

“You should have told me this was a tour,” Hope replies. “We just passed the spot that doesn’t card anyone.” 

“We both have fakes.” 

“Yeah, but it’s fun to buy some alcohol without being carded. Well, Maya got carded there once but then Jed scared off the guy… and a few blocks down there’s the aquarium.” 

Josie gasps, slapping Hope’s arm. “There’s an aquarium?!?” 

“Yes. I thought you’d know… What time is it? It’s only six? They close in an hour…” 

They share a look. 

Hope sighs- in slight, slight annoyance. It’s been years since she’s been inside an aquarium, and while in her eyes, it doesn’t seem like the best place to try to impress Josie, Josie seems to care less. 

“You wanna go?” 

“Of course!” 

They go. No questions asked, but that only means they have to finish the wine before going in. 

Technically, they don’t  _ have _ to, but any drop of alcohol is precious and if it doesn’t need to be wasted, why should it be? 

So, like fools, they finish the wine before buying tickets, and Hope is pretty sure they could get in trouble for public intoxication, but it’s the furthest thing from Hope’s mind when Josie grabs her hand and drags her down the hall. 

Josie, as it turns out, loves aquariums. 

Like. 

_ A lot.  _

She also knows a shit ton about just every type of creature that they see. She knows so much that Hope thinks her brain may implode with all of this new information. 

It’s also the cutest thing Hope has ever seen. Josie’s holding a map of the building in one hand and Hope’s hand in the other, and she’s talking excitedly about how she watches SharkFest on National Geographic every year. 

“Wait, shark week?” Hope asks. 

“No, no, Shark _ Fest _ ,” Josie corrects. “You know, the special program that’s like five weeks long?” 

It might ring a small bell in Hope’s mind, but she’s never sat down and watched anything about sharks, at least, anything that’s kept her attention long enough. When she was younger, she watched the entire Jaw Franchise…. which didn’t end up well for her. 

“I don’t like sharks,” Hope confesses. “I watched the entire Jaw Franchise when I was like seven, and it scared the shit out of me. I wouldn’t go into the ocean for a year.” 

Josie giggles, “That’s cute, a robotic, fictional shark scared  _ you _ ?” 

“Yes, it terrified me. I was convinced that there was a homicidal shark out to get me. At one point, I thought it managed to grow lungs and hide under my bed.” 

Josie laughs- loud and boisterous. Infectious, really. Hope hears Josie laugh, how happy she sounds, and Hope can’t help but laugh herself- especially when she thinks about what she just said. Josie has every right to sit and laugh at Hope’s antics from when she was seven. 

She tugs on Hope’s hand, “C’mon. I want to show you something.”

Hope follows blindly- she always will. 

They reach their destination quickly, after Josie makes sure they take a few correct turns on the map, and that’s how they find themselves standing in an empty shark tunnel, watching as they swim around the glass. 

“Admit it,” Josie demands. “They’re kind of cute.”

“They’re  _ sharks.”  _

“Okay, and?” Josie points to a smaller one, tiny, actually. Hope can probably hold it in her hands and call it a puppy, if she really wanted to. “You’re telling me that little guy isn’t cute?” 

Hope watches it, watches as the shark comes up closer to the glass, as if it knows that Hope and Josie are talking about him, and Hope notices dark circles on its skin. 

Kind of like a Dalmatian. There’s bigger ones closer to its dorsal fin, and they become smaller as they get closer to the white of its belly. 

“Dalmatian shark,” Hope comments, deciding that she approves. “He’s cute. Tiny, too. I like it.” 

Josie giggles, bumping her shoulder into Hope’s, “That’s a leopard shark, idiot. It’s a pup, too. They get a lot bigger than that.” 

“How was I supposed to know? He looks more like a Dalmatian,” Hope defends, “How big do they get?” 

“I don’t know, probably six to eight feet.” Josie answers nonchalantly. 

Hope swallows uneasily. Suddenly, the cute little baby shark doesn’t seem so innocent and harmless anymore. She points to a bigger one- one that looks more like the iconic great white that used to haunt her dreams, “What about that one?” 

“Oh, that’s an oceanic blacktip,” Josie answers, “Pretty, right?” 

Hope laughs a bit- she’s never met anyone who enjoys sharks, or actually watches SharkFest, or anything like that, much less calls sharks  _ pretty.  _ Clearly, Josie just likes to keep surprising Hope. 

“Yeah,” Hope agrees, “He’s kind of cute, too.” 

They spend a decent amount of time there, Hope and Josie taking turns naming the sharks. Hope names the leopard one Ares, and Josie names the blacktip Dart. 

At one point, Ares and Dart get close enough to what can only be described as a friendly interaction for two completely different species of sharks, which has Hope and Josie cheering for them. 

Once the sharks and all the other cute little fish in the tunnel entertain them enough, Josie looks at Hope with an unreadable expression, “I want to show you something else.” 

Hope nods, willing to do anything, if it means she gets to spend more time with Josie, more time listening to Josie rant about species of whatever sea creatures they’re looking at. Josie looks at the map- a small reminder that this is Josie’s first time being in this particular aquarium as well, but it seems she knows exactly what she’s looking for. 

She lets Josie drag her through what feels like the entire building, and she starts to get an unwanted feeling that they might be going to some restricted area until Josie finds whatever she’s looking for. 

The Bioluminescence room. 

It’s completely dark, aside from the colorful glow of jellyfish gliding in their tanks peacefully. Hope thinks she even sees a squid, or an octopus, which surprises her, because she had no idea they were bioluminescent, too. 

It takes her eyes a few moments to adjust, but when they do, Josie’s watching Hope intently. 

“Are you okay?” Hope asks. 

Josie looks away. “I’m fine.” 

Hope’s eyes fall to the corner of the room, where there’s a giant bowl of bright, nearly blinding blue. “What the  _ hell _ is that?” 

Josie’s the first one to take a step closer- it seems that Hope is the only one with an irrational fear of everything related to the ocean. There’s a sign that accompanies the bowl, but Hope can’t read it that well in the dark, and she has to resist the urge to stick her hand into the sea of blue specks while Jose attempts to read it.

“They’re… dinoflagellates…?” Josie answers, clearly unsure. Hope thinks it’s safe to assume Josie has never seen them before, too.

“Dino- what now?” 

“Dinoflagellates,” Josie repeats, sounding more confident. “They can be plankton or algae.”

“I’ve never heard of them until today,” Hope says. “Have  _ you _ ?” 

“No.” Josie answers.

Hope sort of wants to touch it. They’re not in a closed tank, and the child-like instinct in her has her reaching out and-

Josie slaps Hope’s hand, “What are you doing?!” 

“Nothing!” 

“You can’t touch it!” 

“I wasn’t- I was just… Nevermind.” Hope grumbles. 

A silence falls between them as they continue to stare at the dinoflagellates- the word itself confuses Hope, but she doesn’t mind. She already knows that when her and Josie get back to campus, there’s a good chance they’ll be spending the rest of the night googling about it. 

“This used to be my favorite part, when I was a kid,” Josie says softly, when the silence between them starts to feel heavy, “I’d spend hours in this room alone, if I could. My dad never liked it, he said it was always so easy for me to get lost or stolen.” Josie laughs a bit, unsurely.

Hope smiles at the image of a young Josie, standing on her tiptoes to be able to look into the glass, watching in awe as Jellyfish float in the water, with bright purple and blue. She can totally see why Josie used to want to spend hours here- can see why if she still does. 

Maybe this time, Josie would be up for some company. 

Hope sort of prays that Josie is. 

“It’s… it’s peaceful.” 

“It’s beautiful.” Josie murmurs. “I mean, look at it.” 

“ _ You’re _ so beautiful.” Hope whispers, not able to hold it back. 

She means it- of course she does. They’ve only known each other for a few months, and Hope feels like she’s known Josie her entire life- Hope’s used to people never being as good as they seem, or them never being the best they can be, but Josie does that  _ every  _ day.

Josie doesn’t answer, and Hope fears that she may have said something wrong, or that Josie just simply doesn’t believe her, but the soothing touch of Josie’s hand on her arm calms her nerves.

Then her nerves go skyrocketing through the roof again when that hand falls to Hope’s hip, bunching up some of the fabric of her dress. Josie tugs gently, pulling Hope closer, and suddenly there’s only a few, tiny spaces between them. 

Hope can feel just how warm Josie is, feel the way she breathes- all of it is making Hope feel lightheaded, and she steadies herself, resting her hands on the wall behind Josie. 

“I…” Josie licks her lips nervously, exhales shakily. “I just-”

“Hey!” A voice shouts. “We’re closing!” 

Hope stumbles backwards, not expecting the sudden interruption. Josie blinks a few times, looking a bit dazed as she looks down at Hope. 

In all honesty, Hope had completely forgotten they were in public. The door to the room is open, bright light pouring in, immediately changing the atmosphere between them.

_ What the fuck just happened?  _

For a second there, Hope had thought that there was a slight chance Josie was going to kiss her, and she wouldn’t be opposed to it at all. 

The employee looks at the two of them with a stern look, arms crossed. There are a few moments of awkward silence as Hope tries to reel in her thoughts, and he starts to stare at them with a disapproving look. Hope rolls her eyes. He shouldn’t be looking at them like that, it’s not like they did anything wrong. They were simply talking. 

“C’mon,” Josie mumbles, grabbing Hope’s hand again. “Let’s go.” 

Hope only grumbles in agreement, not wanting to start a fight, or dwell on the feeling of disappointment she begins to feel. 

They leave the aquarium, after they were so rudely interrupted. If it were up to Hope, she’d threaten the guy into letting them stay a little longer, but she really doubts that Josie would be okay with that. 

Once they’re out of the building, Hope realizes how stuffy it was in there, or maybe she was just holding her breath for most of the time, because she breathes in the fresh air like she was nearly dying. 

Hope doesn’t really want to make her way back to campus just yet, but she doesn’t really know what else they could possibly do. 

They end up going back to campus anyways, holding hands and laughing as they make their way back to Josie’s apartment. 

The two of them freeze in the living room, where there’s a sleeping Jed on one couch, Maya on the other, and Lizzie sitting on the floor, batting Maya’s hands away. 

Hope let’s go of Josie’s hand, not aware of the pout Josie gives her. “Bro, what the fuck?” She demands, causing both of the girls to shriek.

“Hope,  _ knock! _ ” Lizzie shouts at her, hand clutching at her chest dramatically. “Do you always lurk like that?”

“Lizzie, I let her in. It’s fine.” 

“Why are you here?” 

“Josie invited me. Why are  _ you  _ here?” 

“Lizzie invited me.”

Josie and Lizzie share some weird twin look, one that Hope is too tired to try to understand. Hope is starting to suspect that something is going on between Lizzie and Maya. She doesn’t know what it is, or if even wants to know, but she’s positive that there’s…  _ something.  _

Maya never hangs out with other people like this- sure, out of all of Hope’s friends, she may be the most social, but she always ends up choosing to spend her time with their group of shared friends, and Hope rarely hears of Maya hanging out with other people like this, unless… 

Hope gasps, “Are you-”

Maya’s eyes widen. “Hope, don’t you dare!” 

“She’s still drunk, yep!” Lizzie rushes out, getting to her feet. “And you and Josie are definitely a little drunk, too, so why don’t you change? Jo, be a nice guest and give Hope some clothes.” 

Oh god. 

Maya is definitely hooking up with Lizzie.

Honestly, Hope doesn’t know how she didn’t realize sooner. Maya only gets this when she’s in the middle of one of her flings, only… 

It’s not just a fling, is it?

Hope is going to kill Maya- preferably not with Josie and Lizzie around, so it’s going to have to wait until tomorrow. 

That is, if Maya and Jed are still here when she wakes up. Lizzie pushes them out of the living room, and Josie ends up mumbling something about Lizzie to herself as Hope flops onto Josie’s bed.

She watches as Josie moves around the room, sorting through her clothes and other things- then looks around, smiling a bit to herself as she notices small things- like the Baby Yoda plushy that sits in the corner, or the stack of vinyls on Josie’s desk. 

“What are you smiling at?” Josie asks.

Hope looks at her, feeling a bit light and giddy. “You, got a problem with that?” 

Josie shakes her head, “No.” 

She switches the lights off, but moments later turns on these cute little lights that are on her walls that Hope didn’t notice before. Hope likes it. It feels comfy, like a home- Hope hasn’t done anything to her apartment to make it feel like this. She knows that it’s up to her, but she doesn’t have time. 

Josie puts on some album onto her record player- she struggles for a few moments, Hope can hear the record scratching as she stares at the ceiling, but Josie eventually gets it and throws some clothes at Hope. 

“I bet you’re dying to get out of that dress,” Josie comments, sitting on the edge as Hope sits up to look at her again. “I know I would be.” 

Hope looks over Josie’s suit again- and her throat runs dry. 

She really needs to stop letting Josie affect her so much. Somehow, in between their hours at the restaurant and their way back home, Josie had unbuttoned her shirt a little bit more. 

Hope swallows. She needs to stop staring. 

“Yeah,” she answers. “I kind of am.” 

“You can shower if you want.” 

“Okay.” 

Hope plans on taking a shower- she has a routine of taking one every night before bed, and she’s already locked herself in Josie’s bathroom when she realizes that she needs help. 

Help with unzipping her dress- which, when Hope looks back on it, she has no idea how she had managed to zip it up by herself. 

Should she go ask Josie for help? Maybe she can find a way to do it without asking, since she already turned the shower on. She doesn’t want to waste any water, though. 

Hope unlocks the door and opens it a crack. 

“Hey, uhm… Jo?” 

“Yeah?” 

“I sort of need help.” 

Josie laughs a bit, “With what?” 

“My, uhm… unzipping my dress.” 

“Oh.” Josie suddenly sounds serious, and Hope opens up the door all the way. 

Hope feels like a fucking idiot, standing there as she turns around so Josie can unzip her dress, but Josie helps her without any complaints, and when Hope turns again to face her, Josie’s standing a bit closer than Hope had anticipated. 

Not that Hope minds. In fact, she kind of likes it. It’s almost as if Josie can’t stay away from her for long. 

Eventually:

“I’m gonna shower now.”

“Yeah, okay,” Josie answers. “I’ll be here.” 

Hope showers after that, like she said she would. When she returns, Josie giggles at the sight of Hope wearing the shirt she had given her- it’s clearly meant for someone bigger than Hope, and Hope frowns. 

“Shut up.” She grumbles, but allows Josie to pull her into the bed next to her, more than happy to accept the excuse to be close to Josie. 

“Thank you.” Josie whispers. 

“For what?” Hope asks, shifting to look at her better. 

“I don’t know… for everything…” Josie sighs. “It’s just that, after this summer I felt like shit and you’ve made that easier.” 

Hope is a bit surprised by this information, but she doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it, “Well, I’m glad I could help. I still don’t know what I did.” 

Josie smiles. “You’re just… you.” 

“I’m glad that’s enough for you.” 

It’s weird. Nobody has really thanked Hope for existing before, but it seems like such a normal thing for Josie to do, Hope doesn’t question it. 

“I’m going to the kitchen real quick, do you need water or anything?” 

Hope could use some water. 

“Just water, please.” 

Josie leaves, leaving Hope alone with her cute little lights and music. She’s not left alone for long, but before Josie returns, Hope thinks she can hear Josie and Lizzie arguing outside the door. 

She doesn’t pay much attention to it- she can’t even hear it that well with the music, and she doesn’t want to intrude on a conversation that she clearly isn’t a part of it. 

Eventually, she can hear Josie shoo Lizzie away and she returns, with water as Hope had requested. Josie’s still in her suit- which Hope finds a little odd. She thought Josie would have changed out of it by now.

Josie hands Hope the water quietly, and Hope thanks her. Hope wants to ask what her and Lizzie were talking about, but she refrains from doing so. She knows it’s none of her business, and she doesn’t want to piss Josie off, or worse, both of the Saltzman twins by asking. 

Josie goes back to her drawers, shuffling through her clothes before she settles on something she deems wearable for herself, and Hope catches a glimpse of dark blue with a memorable logo on it. 

The New York Yankees, only the greatest baseball team of all time. 

“You’re a baseball fan?” Hope asks.

Josie shrugs, “I guess? It’s not significant, is it?” 

Hope frowns slightly, wondering if Josie’s sudden mood change is because of her conversation with Lizzie. She ends up sipping on her water and wonders if she should leave. 

Josie disappears into her bathroom for a few moments, leaving Hope alone once again. The lights Josie had hung must’ve died, or have a timer or something, because after a while, they go out, leaving Hope in the dark. 

Then Josie reappears, only this time, she’s more of a silhouette than a face. 

“Are you still drunk?” Josie asks. 

“No. Are you?” 

“No, not really.” 

It’s a little strange, really, knowing that Josie’s looking at Hope, and Hope is staring straight back, waiting for her eyes to adjust so she can see Josie better. 

“Can you see me?” Josie whispers. 

“A little bit.” 

Seriously, what the fuck did Josie and Lizzie talk about? Josie’s been acting a bit different since. 

Then, without any other questions from Josie, Hope can hear her struggle more than see it- with unbuttoning her shirt, and it falls to the ground with a small thud. 

Wait. 

Is Josie- 

“Jo…” 

No answer. Josie just changes out of her clothes, and despite being in the dark, Hope can see the outline of Josie’s shoulders, of her neck as she takes off her bra and pulls on that forsaken baseball tee on instead. 

Then, she clambers into bed- since it is her’s, and not Hope’s.

There’s some shifting around from the both of them, and Hope’s hand accidentally brushes against Josie’s leg in their struggle- dangerously high. 

Is Josie even wearing shorts? Holy shit. 

Hope manages to settle down- pulling her hands close with plans to keep them to herself, but Josie rolls over to face her. 

“When was the last time you painted?”

“I dunno. It’s been months.” Hope confesses. 

“Do you miss it?” 

Of course Hope misses it. It’s one of the last things that keeps her connected to her father, and she hasn’t had the inspiration or motivation to do that lately. 

“Yeah.” Hope whispers, her voice more shaky than she had anticipated. 

“You could paint here, if you wanted.” 

“But I don’t have a canvas, or any paint here with me.” 

Josie laughs, a soft sound that makes Hope’s chest burn. Josie grabs one of Hope’s hands, and guides it to her bare thigh, leaving it there. 

“Do you really need those things? Isn’t painting just using your imagination?” 

The question actually makes Hope stop and think. Of course, to acquire an actual painting, an artist needs paints, a canvas, paint brushes… but none of that is needed for the hours of imagination, the hours of picturing something inside their head before they’re able to get it down. 

“Yes.” 

Josie seems to like that answer, “Sometimes you just need a slightly different outlet, right? Before you can return to old habits.” 

Hope agrees. She’s been wanting to paint for months, but she’s been so hung up on other things, that maybe it would be easier for her to start with drawing instead, or even just a rough doodle. Anything that could help her to start painting again. 

Wait. 

Is Josie offering to let Hope paint on her- metaphorically?

At this point, Hope feels too embarrassed to voice her question out loud, so she begins to trace simple things onto Josie’s thigh. First, she spells out her name, then she traces something a little more complex, something a little bigger- a flower in her mind. 

Josie lets her, and Hope wonders where the hell Josie comes up with this kind of stuff, because if Maya had proposed this idea to Hope, Hope would have told her to fuck off. 

Hope gets comfortable, drawing whatever comes to mind onto Josie’s skin with her fingers, but she doesn’t let her hand wander further than where Josie had placed it, until Josie shifts- almost uncomfortably, and Hope’s hand is placed on Josie’s stomach, meeting more warm skin. 

It gives Hope more room, and she stalls for a few seconds as she thinks about what she wants to trace next, tapping. She thinks about the first painting she had ever done with her father- the time they had poured into it, the details. 

Hope wants to recreate it- even if it’s not on a permanent canvas, even if Josie has no idea what it could be.

They’re silent throughout the whole thing, and it would scare Hope if she weren’t with Josie. Strangely enough, Hope finds comfort in only being able to hear the steady rise and fall of Josie’s breathing, to feel Josie’s head resting against her shoulder, Josie’s hand toying with her free one. 

“What’d you paint?” Josie asks, what feels like hours later. 

Hope smiles into the dark.  _ You _ . “Everything.” 

Josie seems to enjoy the answer, “Maybe you could show me sometime. Your real paintings, I mean.”

Hope nods. “Maybe I will, one day soon.”

Nothing is spoken after that- and Hope continues to draw invisible lines of ink into Josie’s skin until the sun begins to peak through the windows. 


End file.
